


Slow Hope

by caramarie



Series: In the New World [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-03 17:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15823455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramarie/pseuds/caramarie
Summary: When the apocalypse is nigh, Komaru and Fukawa agree to be sent forward to the future. But for the students they’re meant to be meeting there, things haven’t gone as expected.





	1. Chapter 1

When Komaru stumbled out the building, her head spinning, she found Fukawa waiting for her there.

‘Naegi told you, then,’ Fukawa said.

Komaru met Fukawa’s eyes, and wanted to burst into tears.

‘It’s not fair,’ she said. ‘Everything’s only just starting to go back to normal, and now …’

What her brother had told her wasn’t rioting and despair. That would come later, she supposed – once the public found out about it. Instead it was death from the skies, an asteroid on its way to earth. Like something out of a bad sci-fi movie.

Fukawa touched her arm, and they sat down together on the steps.

‘Makes it all seem pointless, doesn’t it?’ Fukawa said.

Komaru sniffed and wiped her nose. ‘It’s not pointless.’

‘I bet she’s laughing at us,’ Fukawa said. ‘Everything we survived, only to get done in by an asteroid.’

Komaru leant her head on Fukawa’s shoulder.

‘He asked you, right?’ Fukawa said. ‘Are you going to …’

Komaru nodded. Her brother had explained the plan the Future Foundation had come up with: a small group of people would be put into stasis, and triggered awake whenever the earth was safe for humans again. Maybe in a few decades. Maybe in a thousand years.

It sounded fantastical to her.

‘I can’t say no,’ Komaru said. ‘I know I haven’t done any more to deserve it than anyone else, but …’

‘I thought you’d agree to it,’ Fukawa said. ‘I’m going too, then. I can’t let you do it on your own; you’d get yourself killed.’ She met Komaru’s eyes nervously, as if worried she’d said the wrong thing.

‘I’m glad,’ Komaru said. ‘Without you … that would be too scary.’ She could admit this to Fukawa, when she hadn’t been able to admit it to her brother. ‘I couldn’t do it by myself.’

Fukawa reached out to take Komaru’s hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. Komaru found her eyes blurred with tears; she squeezed Fukawa’s hand.

She could keep going anywhere, with Fukawa beside her. Even to the end of the world.


	2. Chapter 2

It had only been a week since they’d woken up, but Komaru felt as if they’d been walking for years. The uncertainty was the worst of it – not knowing if they were going the right way, or if there would be anything there when they did arrive; not knowing how much time had passed since they’d been put to sleep; not even knowing if the food they foraged was safe to eat.

There was a lot of not knowing.

And if Komaru could have gone back in time, she would have let her brother have it for splitting the three groups up. Sure, it was the sensible thing to do – if one of the groups was wiped out, the others might still survive – but Komaru was tired, she was sore down to her bones, and she wished they could have skipped this part and all woken up together instead.

‘There’s something up ahead!’ Daimon had gone ahead, and he called back to them now.

‘What do you mean “something”?’ Kotoko said.

Daimon joined his arms in an arc above his head. ‘Like a big dome,’ he said.

Komaru looked at Shingetsu, who’d been marking their progress on a map that was who-knew-how-long out of date.

‘This could be it,’ he said.

‘Finally,’ Fukawa said.

‘How far off is it?’ Komaru asked. She joined Daimon on the rise, looking out over the landscape.

‘Still a couple hours, I reckon.’ He pointed for her, and she could see it: a white sphere emerging from out of the trees. It was a solid structure, not like the ruins they’d passed.

‘Well, I’m taking a break,’ Fukawa said. When Komaru looked back, she had dumped her backpack on the ground to make a seat. Of the six of them, Fukawa had found the journey the most difficult – she tired easily, and struggled to keep the food down.

Even now, once they’d sat down together and Kotoko had passed out the fruit she’d been carrying, Fukawa had to leap up to go vomit in the bushes.

‘Toko-chan!’ Komaru rose, to go hold back Fukawa’s hair as she wretched.

‘I’m okay,’ Fukawa said, when she could talk again. Komaru handed her her water bottle, and Fukawa took it, washing out her mouth and spitting on the ground.

‘I don’t get it,’ Komaru said. ‘Everyone else is fine with the food.’

‘It’s not the food though, is it?’ Shingetsu said.

Fukawa took a proper drink, scowling in Shingetsu’s direction.

‘Whatever it is,’ Komaru said, worried all of a sudden, ‘you can tell us.’ They couldn’t have gotten within sight of the second group, only to have Fukawa fall ill …

‘It’s not the food,’ Fukawa admitted.

‘Then what?’

Fukawa avoided Komaru’s eyes.

‘She’s pregnant,’ Shingetsu said. ‘Right, Fukawa-san? It’s morning sickness.’

‘What!’

‘No way!’ Kotoko said. ‘Who’s the daddy?’

‘Byakuka-sama, of course,’ Fukawa said. She wrung her hands.

‘Really?’ Kotoko said. ‘Really truly?’

‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ Komaru could hardly understand what Fukawa was saying – how could she be pregnant? How could she be pregnant and not have told Komaru? How could she have slept with Togami and not have told Komaru?

‘It might not have worked,’ Fukawa said. ‘And we might not have woken up anyway …’

‘But …’

‘You should have said something,’ Shingetsu said. ‘Your health is extra important now.’

‘Toko-neesan’s going to be a mum,’ Kotoko said. ‘That’s scary!’

‘What’s scary about it?’ Fukawa said. ‘People pop out kids all the time. I’m not special.’ She got to her feet and hoisted her backpack, as if she weren’t the one who’d just asked for a break.

‘Toko-chan, wait up!’

‘Just cos I’m pregnant,’ Fukawa said, walking ahead, ‘doesn’t mean I need coddling.’

‘Shingetsu-kun is right though.’ Komaru fell into step beside her. ‘You need to take care of yourself.’

‘I know that,’ Fukawa snapped. ‘It’s Byakuya-sama’s child, after all.’

‘Is it? Really?’ It did sound rather like one of Fukawa’s fantasies.

‘Like I’d ever have anyone else’s child,’ Fukawa said. ‘I couldn’t convince him to come with us, so I convinced him to … anyway, it’s definitely his. Don’t act like it’s such a surprise.’

Behind them, Kotoko and Jataro started up a rude song. Komaru stopped to glare at them, and the song turned to giggles.

‘Just goes to show,’ Fukawa muttered. ‘A bunch of idiots like you could never understand our relationship.’

‘Toko-chan …’

Fukawa strode ahead. Komaru looked helplessly back at the others.

Shingetsu wore a vaguely guilty expression, as if he regretted saying anything. But Komaru was glad he had. If Fukawa was having a baby, Komaru had to be ready to support her.

A baby. In this world.

She hurried after Fukawa. At least they would be reunited with the second group soon. Maybe then, she could get Fukawa to take a rest.

Komaru should have known things wouldn’t be that easy.

***

When they got to the dome, the doors were sealed from the inside.

‘There must be some kind of intercom,’ Kotoko said, and she made a sound like a yodel.

‘They won’t let us in if you’re making noises like that,’ Daimon said.

The door continued to loom over them.

‘Shouldn’t there be some kind of command we can use?’ Fukawa asked. ‘Naegi didn’t say anything?’

‘They hadn’t finished this place when we went to sleep, remember?’ Komaru frowned at the door. ‘If it’s electronic, maybe I can link it.’ She began to hunt through her backpack for her hacking gun.

‘I can’t believe you brought that with you,’ Fukawa muttered, as Komaru set about hacking the door. When it began to shudder open, she gave Fukawa a brilliant smile, and headed in.

They found themselves in a long room, that stretched out into a hallway. On either side were machinery and computer read-outs, blinking lights and screens. Komaru couldn’t make sense of them. There was no-one around, and a dead feeling to the air, as if there hadn’t been anyone around in a very long time.

‘What’s this place meant to be?’ Daimon said. He went to poke at the controls, until Fukawa growled at him and he snatched his hand back.

Everything looked a lot more complex than the facility they’d woken up in. ‘I guess we keep on going,’ Komaru said. At least the equipment was still working.

They proceeded down the hall, which became steadily more tunnel-like as they walked. Eventually they hit a metal door, with bars like a cage, and beyond it …

Beyond it, the solid floor was replaced by moving platforms, and the area was patrolled by small drones shaped like Monokuma heads.

Komaru’s heart sunk, but she felt a curious lack of surprise. Nothing had ever gone the way it should, not since the Tragedy. Why should the future be any different?

‘That’s not meant to be there,’ Fukawa said. ‘You don’t think –?’

‘We keep going,’ Komaru said. She could destroy the drones, she thought, and the platforms were just a matter of careful timing ...

Kotoko gave a nervous laugh. ‘Lucky Komaru-neesan’s here,’ she said.

She could do this. ‘Be ready, everyone,’ Komaru said, bracing herself. ‘We don’t know what we’ll find.’

She opened the door, and started down the tunnel.

***

When they emerged at last, it was like they’d been transported to another world. The old world. A large building rose up beside the shed they’d emerged from; the sky was a brilliant blue. It had been overcast.

‘We’re still in the dome, right?’ Kotoko asked. ‘What’s this meant to be?’ She waved a hand at the building they’d emerged beside.

‘Looks like a school,’ Fukawa said. She leant against the walls of the shed; avoiding the traps had taken it out of her.

‘A school,’ Shingetsu said, with disgust. ‘Why’d they pick that to survive?’

‘Sounds like my brother, doesn’t it?’ Komaru said.

‘What’s this?’ a voice came from behind them. ‘No-one said anything about transfer students.’

Fukawa reacted first, lifting a hand. ‘Mo-monokuma,’ she said.

Komaru nodded. Quickly, she had the hacking gun in hand, and she blasted the Monokuma three times, till it lay twitching on the ground.

‘Why would there be a Monokuma here?’ Shingetsu sounded a little stunned.

‘You don’t think ...’ Kotoko’s voice wobbled.

First the trapped tunnel, now Monokuma. ‘We don’t know what happened here,’ Komaru said, ‘so be careful, everyone!’

They continued along the path that curved around the building. It was disconcerting, to see such a constructed landscape after days of trees and ruins.

‘This is too weird,’ Fukawa muttered.

‘Another Monokuma!’ Kotoko said. ‘This one’s dressed funny!’

It was a red Monokuma, wearing a scarf, and it looked as if it might protest Kotoko’s statement, except that Komaru hit it straight in the eye with the hacking gun, and it dropped.

‘That’s new,’ Komaru said. She felt a little sick. ‘Whoever this is, they’re not just imitating.’

‘Huh. It looks just as stupid as the others,’ Fukawa said. She kicked the body.

‘You!’ someone said. ‘How’d you do that!’

This time the voice was a boy, not a robot. He ran up to them, and Komaru was relieved to recognise him as one of her brother’s students. Oma was one of those who’d been sent forward as part of the second group.

‘With this,’ Komaru said, and hefted her hacking gun for Oma to see.

Oma made admiring noises. And then he said, ‘But who are you?’

‘You don’t know?’ Komaru asked. It seemed odd that Naegi wouldn’t have told him about them. ‘I’m Naegi Komaru. From the Future Foundation.’ There was no recognition on the boy’s face.

‘This is part of it, right?’ Oma looked down at the Monokuma, his face turning cloudy.

‘We don’t know what “it” is,’ Fukawa said. ‘We came from outside.’

‘What? Outside?’

‘Outside the dome,’ Komaru said. ‘It will be easier to explain to everyone at once. Where are the others?’ She thought of the Monokuma. ‘Is it safe?’

‘Safe?’ Oma said. ‘Oh, sure, it’s very peaceful.’ He started laughing, harder than Komaru thought was warranted. ‘But you can take care of yourselves, right?’ He looked at them curiously. ‘Come on, let’s go find the others.’

***

‘Th-this is everyone, then?’ Fukawa asked. The group Oma gathered came to nine people in total. Only nine, of the sixteen there should have been. ‘Let me guess. Monokuma trapped you here and ordered you to kill each other.’

‘Huh? You already know?’ Oma said.

‘It’s happened before,’ Fukawa said. ‘You don’t remember?’

‘We don’t remember anything before waking up here,’ Saihara said. Like Oma, Komaru recognised him from his photo. ‘Only …’ He looked away, frowning. ‘I guess the flashback light was a trick after all.’

‘Well, the world could still be destroyed,’ Oma said. ‘Maybe these guys are robots too.’

‘We’re not robots,’ Kotoko said.

‘Sounds like something a robot would say.’

Komaru spoke before an argument could start. ‘The world _was_ destroyed,’ she said. ‘A long time ago now. There was an asteroid on its way to earth, and we couldn’t do anything to stop it.’ She looked at Fukawa, who gave her a tight-lipped nod. ‘We were part of a project to preserve humanity, and we were put into stasis so that … well, so that when the earth recovered, we could start over.’

‘Wait a minute,’ Iruma, one of the girls, cut in. ‘You’re saying we’re the only ones left?’ At Komaru’s nod, she started to smirk. ‘If they wanted to repopulate the earth, it’s obvious why they chose a super hot genius like me, but what about Kiibo here?’ She gestured at him with her thumb. ‘He’s not exactly equipped.’

Somehow, despite being a robot, Kiibo managed to turn red and splutter.

‘Ah, well … you guys were the first class of the new Hope’s Peak Academy. They wanted you to stick together.’

‘The new what now?’

‘Hope’s Peak,’ Komaru repeated. ‘You don’t remember that either, then.’

‘So we were classmates!’ Momota said. He clapped Saihara on the back. ‘Maybe you were my sidekick after all, Saihara.’

‘If were were classmates,’ Harukawa said, ‘then who are you guys?’ She looked at Komaru and the others.

‘They must be from the school,’ Oma said. ‘Hey, should I start calling you “miss”?’

‘We’re not from the school, exactly,’ Fukawa said.

‘If you don’t remember anything, this is going to be hard to explain.’ Komaru wasn’t sure she could do it without going into the Tragedy first, and they still didn’t know why there were Monokuma here …

‘We’re not going anywhere,’ Harukawa said.

‘Are we sure we can trust them though?’ Shirogane said. ‘We don’t know this isn’t part of the mastermind’s plan. After all, even if she says she killed Monokuma, we already know they can make more.’ She pushed up her glasses, hiding her face.

‘You don’t need to worry about more Monokuma,’ Daimon said. ‘Our Naegi’ll definitely kill them dead.’

‘I saw her kill Monotaro myself,’ Oma said. ‘It was horrible!’ To Komaru’s great surprise, he burst into tears.

‘What?’ Komaru said. ‘Did I make a mistake?’ He hadn’t looked like a normal Monokuma, it was true … maybe she should have tried talking to it first ...

‘He’s having you on,’ Fukawa muttered.

‘Oh?’ Oma stopped crying abruptly. ‘You worked it out.’

‘Don’t listen to anything Oma says,’ Iruma said.

Oma grinned. ‘Nah, it was really great you got rid of an annoying guy like that. I’m surprised Monokuma hasn’t shown up again though. Or Monophanie.’ He pressed a finger against his lips.

‘H-how many of them are there?’ Fukawa asked.

‘There were five of them to start,’ Momota said. ‘Plus Monokuma. But the other Monokubs got destroyed in the class trials…’ His face became solemn.

Fukawa, beside Komaru, looked just as serious. Komaru reached out to squeeze her hand.

‘If Monokuma and Monotaro really are destroyed, there’s only Monophanie left.’

That, then, was the cue for a huge crash as the doors to the dining hall burst open.

‘You killed Papa!’ rang out a voice from inside a mecha. The robot loomed over them, and everyone backed up.

‘Exisals!’

‘Toko-chan?’ Komaru said, not taking her eyes off the mecha. ‘I think we could really use Genocider right about now.’

‘I didn’t bring my taser to the future,’ Fukawa said, through gritted teeth.

‘Fine,’ Komaru said, grabbing for her hacking gun. ‘I guess I’ll have to do it myself.’

She’d expected the robot to put up a fight, but it only took a couple of knockbacks for it to surrender. The hatch opened up, and the Monokub that emerged was so sorry-looking that Komaru couldn’t bring herself to destroy her outright.

‘Right!’ Momota said, punching his fist in his hand. ‘Time to explain yourself!’

Monophanie quivered in front of them. ‘I just wanted to avenge Papa and Monotaro,’ she said. ‘Who’re these people? What’s that horrible weapon?’

‘We’re asking the questions,’ Momota said. He took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself. ‘The killing game is over.’

‘Over?’ Monophanie trembled harder.

‘Can we really say that?’ Shirogane said, her voice soft. ‘If there is a mastermind, we know they can bring Monokuma back. This could be just another trick.’

‘Then we find out where they’re making them,’ Momota said, ‘and we trash the place!’ 

‘You should just tell us,’ Fukawa said to Monophanie. ‘Maybe then … we’ll let you live.’ She looked shifty as she said it.

‘You think I know?’ Monophanie said. ‘If I knew, then Monotaro wouldn’t have to be dead!’

‘I think I believe her,’ Komaru said. Monophanie was so pathetic it was almost endearing.

‘Actually,’ Saihara said, ‘we might already know where it is.’

‘Huh?’ Monophanie’s trembling stopped.

‘After what happened to Amami-kun, we gave up on that route,’ Saihara said. ‘But it still might be that … the door in the library ...’

‘But we already know the mastermind didn’t use that door,’ Shirogane said. ‘And we can’t get in anyway.’

‘I know,’ Saihara said. ‘I still think we should take another look.’ He frowned. ‘The door will be a problem though.’

‘I guess it’s hopeless then,’ Oma said. ‘I mean, if it’s an electronic lock, we don’t have anything that could work against something like that.’

Komaru was still holding the hacking gun. ‘I think I can help,’ she told them.

***

The group led them down to the library. Everyone went along – even Monophanie followed them. There was a feeling of anticipation: finally, they would know the reason for their suffering. Finally, they would be able to stand up to it.

The chatter stopped when they entered the library. Even Komaru’s group could feel it: someone had died here. Worse, someone had killed.

Harukawa made her way directly to a bookcase at the back of the room. The whole room was crammed with books, both on cases and piled on the floor. Someone had chosen them, Komaru thought. Maybe even her brother had chosen them. And _this_ had happened instead.

‘This is the door.’ Harukawa triggered a mechanism so that the bookcase slid itself out, revealing another door behind it.

‘We thought the mastermind must’ve been using this room,’ Saihara said. He came up beside Harukawa and ran a finger along the card reader, sighing at the dust. ‘They never even used it.’

Fukawa sneezed.

‘Dekomaru!’ she said. ‘Why’re we at the library? Who’re these losers?’

Her sudden, brazen voice made Saihara jump. Genocider stared at them all boldly, her eyes only softening when she saw Kotoko and the others.

‘We made it to the future,’ Komaru said. ‘But something went wrong with the second group.’

‘Yeah, they sure look like there’s something wrong with them,’ Genocider said, and laughed. ‘Did you need me? If we’ve been frozen up all this time –’

‘We’re not in danger,’ Komaru said, ‘probably. We have to get this door open, but I don’t know what we’ll find.’

‘Is … Fukawa-san okay?’ Saihara asked.

‘Fukawa? Who cares about that loser? I’m here now! Let’s get this door open, Dekomaru.’

‘Right.’

But before Komaru could link it, a little light came on next to the card reader. And the door began to open.

Genocider immediately took up a fighting stance. Komaru stepped in front of the others, arm out, as if she could protect them. They were both expecting a stream of Monokuma.

They weren’t expecting to see Monaka there.


	3. Chapter 3

The last time Komaru had seen Monaka, she’d been a fourteen-year-old girl throwing her life away. She was older now, but apparently she still hadn’t grown up.

‘I give up,’ Monaka said.

‘Monaka-chan?’ Komaru was too stunned to do anything but let her roll by.

Harukawa looked at Komaru, startled. ‘You know her?’

Genocider started to laugh.

Shingetsu said, ‘We all know her.’

Monaka’s eyes crinkled up on hearing him. ‘Shingetsu-kun!’ She rolled over to him. ‘It’s been a while. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you guys to show up … I thought for sure you were all dead.’ She brought her hands together and exploded them out, miming the asteroid strike.

‘You’re the one responsible for this?’ Momota said. He walked forward, wearing a fierce expression.

‘Momota-kun.’ Harukawa’s voice was a warning.

‘Sure seems that way,’ Monaka said, and let out a dramatic sigh. ‘But whatever, I give up. You got me.’

‘People died because of you,’ Saihara said.

‘Well,’ Monaka said, ‘it’s not like that’s anything new.’ She held her hands out toward Saihara, wrists together. ‘Why don’t you arrest me, Mr Detective?’

Saihara looked away.

‘Yumeno-san,’ Harukawa said. ‘You have handcuffs, don’t you?’

‘Huh? Yeah, but … what’re we gonna do with her? If it’s her fault Tenko and Angie are dead …’

‘What’s that?’ Monaka leaned forward, her eyes big. ‘Monaka didn’t kill them, you know. It’s that Shinguji’s fault those two copped it.’

‘Maybe we should have another trial,’ Oma said.

‘Whadda we need a trial for?’ Genocider asked. ‘You might not be a pretty boy,’ she said to Monaka, ‘but I’ll try and enjoy killing you anyway.’

‘ _Don’t_ ,’ Komaru said. ‘You’re going to be a mother.’

Genocider was stunned for a moment. Then she shrugged it off, like a cat shrugging off water. ‘So Fukawa got herself knocked up,’ she said. ‘Big deal. If we’re gonna bring a kid into the world, all the more reason to make sure a rat like her isn’t in it.’

‘Gee,’ Monaka said, ‘are you guys gonna fight about little old me?’

‘We’re not going to fight,’ Shingetsu said. ‘No-one’s killing anyone.’

‘That’s right,’ Momota said. ‘We can’t kill her. We gotta be better than that. Right, Harumaki?’

Harukawa looked surprised. ‘I’m okay with killing her,’ she said.

Crestfallen, Momota turned to Saihara for support.

‘Maybe we should just lock her up for now,’ Saihara said. ‘Until we can work out what to do.’

There was some more grumbling, but in the end they went along with Saihara’s suggestion. Momota and a few of the others escorted Monoka away. Komaru was relieved to see the back of her.

‘She decided to become Enoshima after all.’ Genocider sounded disgusted.

‘I really thought she’d grow up,’ Komaru said. Maybe ‘grow up’ was the wrong way to describe it – even if Monaka had been a child in Towa City, what she’d done wasn’t childish pranks. Shingetsu and the others had worked that out, and tried to atone for what they’d done. But Monaka …

‘We should check her room,’ Shingetsu said. ‘If she was making Monokuma here, we need to destroy the equipment.’

Genocider’s eyes lit up. ‘Now that, I can get behind. You with me, Dekomaru?’

‘Let’s do it.’

***

The room Monaka had come from was was dim, and the main light came from the giant head of a Monokuma. Its eyes glowed and pulsed, and as they walked in, the Monokuma began to laugh. Genocider pulled her knives out preemptively.

‘What the hell is that?’ Oma had stayed with their group, and he bounded ahead now.

‘Show a little more respect,’ the Monokuma said. ‘Don’t you know I’m the final boss?’ It’s laugh was distressingly loud. ‘Congratulations on making it this far.’

It talked, but it didn’t move. It was attached by a large number of cables to a machine behind it.

‘Hey, Komaru-neesan, do you think that megaphone of yours can do anything about this?’ Oma asked, and he patted one of the cables.

‘Wait!’ said the Monokuma. ‘Let’s not be hasty. Don’t you want to see me birth more Monokuma?’

‘Like anyone wants to see that!’ Genocider said. She hefted one of her knives and threw it straight at the Monokuma, hitting its red eye with a crack.

Komaru followed Genocider’s lead and attacked, blasting the Monokuma with the hacking gun.

‘Well, that was disturbing,’ Iruma said, once Komaru was done. She went over to inspect what was left of the Monokuma. ‘Someone get the lights.’

‘It’s strange that it didn’t make more Monokuma,’ Harukawa said. She found the light switch, and flicked it on.

‘Maybe it couldn’t without Monaka here,’ Oma said.

At Monaka’s desk were a large number of monitors. Komaru went to see what was on them: Momota and the others arguing outside a classroom; Monaka shut up alone. That one disquieted Komaru – she expected that at any moment, Monaka would look up and speak.

But the moment never came. Instead, Iruma leaned over her shoulder and said, ‘The little bitch was perving on us the whole time, huh?’

‘It makes sense,’ Harukawa said. ‘If she was the one behind it all …’ She frowned, looking at a chippie packet Monaka had left on the desk. ‘What has she been living off this whole time?’

‘Probably the Monokubs were bringing her food,’ Oma said.

‘Maybe,’ Harukawa said. They kept picking about the room, though no-one was sure what they were looking for. An explanation, perhaps. A reason for the hell Monaka had put them through.

There was no reason, Komaru knew. Monaka was Monaka. A hundred years later and she still hadn’t changed.

Harukawa dropped to her knees in front of a rubbish bin, her hand brushing off a layer of lolly wrappers.

‘Did you find something?’ Komaru asked. ‘Is that –?’

‘It’s a shot put,’ Harukawa said. She turned it over in her hand.

‘What kinda weirdo keeps a shot put with her?’ Genocider said. ‘Girl needs a hobby.’

Harukawa straightened. ‘Saihara should see this,’ she said.

‘Eh?’ Iruma said. ‘You don’t think it’s got anything to do with _that_.’

‘What’s that?’ Komaru said.

‘The first murder,’ Harukawa said. ‘The weapon was a shot put. But we already found the murder weapon ...’ She bit her lip.

Komaru didn’t know the murder they were referring to. It was like with Fukawa – there were some traumas she could never truly understand or share. It wasn’t that she didn’t have her own traumas. But they were hers, just as Fukawa’s were Fukawa’s. Or Harukawa’s were Harukawa’s.

Komaru heard a sneeze behind her; when she looked, Fukawa was there again, looking bewildered.

‘You found it!’ Komaru said. Fukawa had pulled back a curtain, and was standing in front of another door.

‘Did we get in?’ Fukawa said. She looked around the room, trying to orient herself.

‘We did,’ Komaru said.

‘Is she alright?’ Iruma asked. ‘Seems a bit cuckoo.’

Fukawa scowled. ‘Wh-what, is there something wrong with having a split personality?’

‘Well, duh,’ Iruma said.

‘Ignore her, Toko-chan,’ Komaru said. ‘We found out who was responsible here.’

Fukawa allowed the subject change. ‘Who?’

‘Monaka,’ Shingetsu said.

***

The argument about what to do with Monaka took a long time, and they still hadn’t come to a conclusion when Saihara went back to his room, feeling overwhelmed.

They’d found the mastermind, but they’d also found out that the world had really ended. The killing game was over and they still couldn’t go home. They’d never be going home again.

He’d drifted off to sleep when there was a knock at the door. When he stumbled to open it, Harukawa was there.

‘Is it time for training?’ Saihara wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep. ‘Where’s Momota-kun?’

‘There’s something I need to talk to you about first. Come on.’ She turned so sharply that he had to hurry to follow her.

‘Harukawa-san? What do you mean?’ He caught up to her as she left the dormitory. Outside, the sky was beginning to darken into evening. Strange, to think that all the world outside was wilderness. Even when Oma had said so, Saihara hadn’t been able to believe it. Or was it because Oma had said so that he hadn’t been able to believe it?

‘Where are we going?’

Harukawa headed toward the school building, her shoes making a sharp clip against the pavement. ‘There’s something in that room I think you should see.’

They made their way to the library, and through the door Monaka had come from. Saihara hadn’t been inside yet, and it was unnerving to enter it now. So Monaka had been watching them from here ...

‘Over here,’ Harukawa said, and beckoned him – toward the rubbish bin?

There were a lot of lolly wrappers, but underneath … ‘A shot put?’ He crouched down to pick it up, the weight heavy in his hand. Harukawa stood over his shoulder.

‘What do you think?’ she asked.

There was some fibre clinging to the shot put. Pink fibre.

Saihara knew that shade of pink.

‘This … isn’t the shot put that killed Amami-kun,’ he said. He wanted to make it a question, but he had a sick feeling in his stomach. This wasn’t the murder weapon. It couldn’t be – there was no blood. But if it had been cleaned, how could the fibre still be on it? ‘Why would there be another one down here?’ He thought of Akamatsu during the first trial – she’d been so determined. Wanted so much to save everyone.

But the mastermind had never been one of them, and Saihara’s plan never could have worked. It couldn’t be possible that Akamatsu’s plan hadn’t worked either.

But there were two shot puts.

Saihara didn’t want to think about it. Because if he thought about it, he might have to conclude that someone else, not Akamatsu, had killed Amami. And that the two of them had died for no better reason than to get the killing game started.

Because Monaka had wanted the killing game to get started.

‘I didn’t want to show Momota,’ Harukawa said, ‘but what do you think?’

‘I think … maybe you were right, Harukawa-san.’

‘Of course I was right,’ she said, automatically. ‘What was I right about?’

‘Monaka-san. She deserves to …’ He couldn’t say it.

Harukawa looked at him. ‘I’m disappointed,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘You think that girl could have killed Amami?’

‘But if the shot put Akamatsu-san used is here, then she must’ve …’

‘She had to have taken him by surprise,’ Harukawa said, ‘but a wheelchair isn’t quiet. And Amami was hit in the head, right? Do you think she could have thrown something as heavy as a shot put that high?’

‘What are you saying, Harukawa-san? She was in here, and everyone else had an alibi.’

‘I think we need to consider all the evidence before we make any decisions,’ Harukawa said. ‘Like whether she lives or dies.’ She looked away, her face troubled.

She thought Monaka had an accomplice. ‘Alright,’ Saihara said. ‘I understand.’

She looked back at him.

‘You don’t want to worry Momota-kun about this. If one of us was working with Monaka-san …’

‘He wouldn’t like it.’

And Momota was stubborn enough to not hear what he didn’t like.

‘I won’t say anything,’ Saihara said. ‘But I’ll keep investigating.’

Harukawa nodded.

The mastermind had been revealed. But maybe that wasn’t all. Maybe that wasn’t the whole truth.

Maybe Akamatsu had only been guilty in intent, and not in action.

But he’d have to prove it with more evidence than this. If Monaka had killed Amami – or someone else had – he wanted it to be incontrovertible.

He could do it. For Akamatsu and Amami’s sakes.

***

‘What are we going to do?’ Monophanie said. ‘They’re going to forget all about Papa’s game! And that girl … can’t she be punished?’

Shirogane wasn’t listening. She was finishing the details on the hairpiece for her latest project.

‘Hey! Aren’t we going to punish her? We can still get things back on track.’

‘Hm?’ Shirogane cut the end off a thread, not paying attention.

‘Are you really gonna let it end like this?’

‘Well … it’s not like we can keep it going now,’ Shirogane said. ‘No-one’s scared of you.’

Monophanie quailed. ‘No-one’s scared? I … I can try harder.’

‘Don’t bother,’ Shirogane said. She smiled, but the expression wasn’t for Monophanie’s benefit. ‘I’ll just have to take a different approach.’

She’d stayed up late in the lab to finish the costume. Of course, she was angry at Monaka for giving herself up, but she had to think positively. A classmate of Enoshima’s was here, after all. Shirogane would never have had the opportunity to wear this costume as it was, but now … wouldn’t that be despairful? To confront one of the survivors of Hope’s Peak, dressed as Enoshima herself?

Shirogane was so excited, she struggled to rethread her needle. She had to stop and compose herself.

If Monaka had only called for more Monokuma, this could have gone even better. They could’ve had Fukawa relive the game … they could’ve had the Ultimate Hope’s little sister play it … but Monaka had had to go and give herself up. Shirogane couldn’t understand it.

Better Monaka than her, of course – Shirogane was still innocent, in the minds of her classmates. But she couldn’t let it end there.

‘You don’t need Monophanie any more?’

Shirogane looked up. She’d forgotten Monophanie.

‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I don’t need you. You’d just make it more suspicious.’

‘Nooo,’ Monophanie said. ‘You didn’t have to say it.’

‘It’s a shame,’ Shirogane said. ‘After Monaka put all that effort into making you guys.’

But they were only tools, after all. Monokuma, the Monokubs … they were only the props Shirogane had needed for the game.

And she needed a new role now.


	4. Chapter 4

Waking up the next morning, Komaru felt like she’d gone back in time. Wrapped up snug in a bed, with Fukawa’s warmth beside her, it was like the world had never ended. The sound of Fukawa’s breathing was slow and even, reassuring. 

Or it should have been reassuring. Komaru couldn’t help remembering the situation they were in. That the bed they were sharing belonged to a girl who had been murdered. That Monaka had recreated the torture that Fukawa and Komaru’s brother had been put through …

Komaru couldn’t go back to sleep. She slipped out of bed and dressed as quietly as she could. 

Outside the dormitory, the sky was just as blue as it had been the day before. They’d have to tear the dome down, she thought. Dismantle the walls. This could be the start of their town, if the class would be okay with that. Komaru had been able to make a home in Towa City, despite the pain she’d seen there. And proper plumbing was a pretty good reason to stay. Komaru hadn’t expected all this – the building complex wasn’t just intact, but seemed new. A place you could live, without having to build it first – that’s what it had been meant to be. Before Monaka.

‘Naegi-san.’

Komaru started; Shingetsu had come out the building behind her while she was daydreaming.

‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘Did you sleep well?’

He hesitated. ‘It took a while,’ he said. Watching his face, it seemed to Komaru that he wanted to say more. He was thinking of Monaka, she thought.

‘Do you want to go for a walk?’ Komaru asked. ‘Not that there’s far to go.’ She gestured to the walls that were the sky, and tried a smile.

Shingetsu nodded.

‘Do you think it’s still a good idea?’ he asked, as they headed out towards the lawn. ‘Leaving to find the others, when things are like this.’ The other group had been put to sleep before the rest of the site locations had been decided – the plan had been to meet them on the coast, and decide things from there.

‘Well … it can’t get any worse, can it?’ And they’d stopped Monaka, even if she had given herself up rather conveniently. ‘Someone has to go.’ She glanced at Shingetsu. ‘Would you rather wait here?’

‘No! I mean, I’ll go where you go.’ He ducked his head. ‘But I don’t trust her. Just giving up like that …’

‘It was the same way before,’ Komaru said. ‘Remember?’ Monaka had led them a merry chase, and then left it all behind, running away to space.

‘She got away then,’ Shingetsu said. ‘It wasn’t giving up at all.’

‘Ah, maybe you’re right.’ Komaru had almost lost Fukawa, chasing her.

They’d made their way to an area that was more like a garden. It was quiet, without any birds or insects to break the silence.

‘It really is a dome,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe they made all this.’

‘I don’t trust it,’ Shingetsu said. ‘We should be starting new. Not trying to replicate what things were like before. That’s how come …’ He glanced at her.

‘They might not want to stay here after everything anyway,’ she said. ‘But we should wait till everyone’s together to decide, I think.’

‘Is it okay to leave her till then?’

‘What else can we do?’ Komaru met his eyes, but he didn’t have any more answers than she did. ‘Maybe Toko-chan will stay behind,’ she said. ‘I know she’s not far along, but it seems safer somehow.’

‘I don’t think I’d want to tell her that,’ Shingetsu said, and made Komaru laugh.

‘She’s that scary, huh?’ It was hard for her to take any of Fukawa’s posturing seriously. Even Genocider she couldn’t be scared of. ‘I think I just got used to it.’

‘You put up with a lot,’ Shingetsu said, in a quiet voice.

‘Not really …’

‘I don’t just mean Fukawa.’

It was seeing Monaka, she thought. That’s why he was in this mood. It wasn’t something she could make better for him.

‘Toko-chan would tell me off if I moped,’ she said.

They finished their circuit around the garden, arriving back where they’d started. It hadn’t taken long.

‘Really, I’m a wuss,’ she said. ‘I never could have done this if Toko-chan hadn’t done it too.’ She looked back up the steps toward the main building. ‘Like right now, I really wish I didn’t have to go up there and try to deal with things.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Shingetsu said.

They both stood facing the steps.

Komaru laughed, and covered her face. ‘What am I saying?’ she said. ‘We might not have expected Monaka-chan, but we knew what we were getting into. They don’t even remember why they’re all here. How must they feel?’

Shingetsu looked back at her. He knew what she was doing, Komaru thought – that this was her pep-talking herself. She should have felt embarrassed, but she didn’t. She didn’t mind.

‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go get breakfast.’

Back at the dining hall, people were arguing about who should have to take food to Monaka – and whether or not she deserved food in the first place. They sort of straightened up when Komaru came in, like she really was their elder. Shingetsu didn’t make her feel like that.

‘Maybe _they’ll_ feed her,’ someone said.

Komaru would have preferred not to, but she was aware that they were still outsiders – and they’d known Monaka before. ‘I’ll do it,’ she volunteered.

‘I can go with you,’ Shingetsu said.

‘It’s okay.’ Komaru smiled at him. ‘She’s not going to try anything.’

She hoped.

***

They’d used one of the classrooms as a makeshift cell. Someone had given Monaka a mattress and a blanket, and perhaps she’d been dozing, but she woke when Komaru came in.

‘You picked the short straw, huh?’

Komaru didn’t have to respond to her; she just had to deliver the food and leave. She put the tray down in front of Monaka, and turned to go.

‘Aren’t you going to take me to the bathroom first?’

Komaru froze.

‘Come on, Komaru-neesan,’ Monaka said. ‘I’ve been holding on all night.’

Komaru couldn’t very well tell her to wet herself. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll take you already.’

She helped Monaka into her wheelchair. It was unnerving, the way Monaka put her arms around her, as if she trusted Komaru. As if Komaru trusted her.

As Komaru escorted her out, Monaka said, ‘I bet you’re wondering why I did it.’ She sounded too cheerful.

‘It doesn’t matter why you did it,’ Komaru said. ‘There’s nothing that could justify it.’ There was no real reason Monaka had turned out the way she had, after all – it was just the way she was.

‘Don’t be so boring, Komaru-neesan. Why’d anyone pick you to the one of humanity’s survivors, I wonder? Is it cos you’re _his_ sister?’

‘It’s not like that,’ Komaru said, even though she knew it was. If she hadn’t been Makoto’s sister, it would never have occurred to the Future Foundation to send her forward. If she hadn’t been Makoto’s sister, she never would have ended up in Towa City, been tested there. ‘I mean, it doesn’t matter why. What I want to know –’ it was a bad idea to ask Monaka anything – ‘is how you got here.’

‘You think no-one would pick Monaka? That’s mean!’ Monaka huffed at her. It wasn’t as charming as when she’d been a little girl.

‘You were in space! I’m surprised you even came back down.’

‘I didn’t,’ Monaka said. ‘Not back then.’

‘What?’ Komaru stopped to stare at Monaka.

‘You didn’t know?’ Monaka asked.

‘Know what?’

‘It’s a spaceship, silly.’ Monaka mimed the blast of a rocket launch with her hands, and laughed.

‘No way.’

‘It wasn’t a big deal to intercept it,’ Monaka said. ‘I was already up there, after all. You really didn’t know?’

Komaru tried to think if Makoto had told her any such thing. But if it had been decided after Komaru had been put to sleep …

‘I didn’t know,’ Komaru said. ‘Why would they do that?’

‘How should I know? Maybe in case the asteroid landed right on top of Towa City. And then … _boom_. Can I pee now?’

Komaru took Monaka into the bathroom. She couldn’t help but look at the building differently now. Had the whole giant dome really been a spaceship? They’d built a school inside a spaceship?

Maybe Monaka was having her on. But she knew it was true that Monaka had gone to space. And it made a certain kind of sense. Even if the facilities on earth had been destroyed, a space ship could have survived. Those sixteen kids could have made it.

Only someone like her brother could have come up with such a futile vision.

***

When Komaru arrived back at the classroom with Monaka, Fukawa was waiting.

‘What were you thinking taking her anywhere?’ she said.

‘Well, I couldn’t let her wet herself …’

‘Good morning to you too, Toko-neesan,’ Monaka said, rolling past Fukawa into the classroom. Komaru could almost see the steam rising from Fukawa’s ears.

‘S-someone like you doesn’t get to call me that,’ she said. ‘C-come on, Komaru, you don’t need to waste any more time on her.’ Fukawa dragged her out by the arm, shut the door to the classroom hard, and locked it.

‘You shouldn’t be alone with her,’ Fukawa said.

‘She didn’t try anything.’

‘She convinced three of those kids to kill one another! Wait for me next time.’

‘Okay, okay,’ Komaru said. ‘I’ll wait.’ They walked back to the dining hall, and Komaru ran her hand along the wall of the stairwell. ‘Do you think this dome could’ve been a spaceship?’

‘What?’

‘Something Monaka-chan said.’

Fukawa’s hackles went down, and she considered it. ‘It would make sense,’ she said. ‘Even if no-one on earth made it, the people on board could still survive.’

‘So, you think she’s telling the truth?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t want to believe just anything that girl said …’ Fukawa sighed. ‘You’d think they could’ve had it come down a bit closer to where we were though.’

‘Right?’ Komaru said. ‘And we still have to go meet the others …’ She remembered what she’d talked about with Shingetsu that morning. ‘Do you think that’s still okay?’ Komaru stopped outside the door to the dining hall, rather than go in where the others could hear her.

‘You’re worried about Monaka? I don’t think they’d actually kill her,’ Fukawa said. She looked over at the door. ‘They’ve got to know better by now, right?’

‘That’s probably true.’

Fukawa turned back to eying her. ‘You don’t think we should leave.’

‘Well … I’m worried about those three too.’

‘I don’t think they’d kill her either.’

‘Of course not,’ Komaru said. ‘But what if Monaka said something? Those kids have already got to be suspicious of us, right?’ She included Shingetsu and the others in her _us_. ‘I don’t know … I thought I should ask you to stay behind … I don’t know.’

‘I’m not babysitting while you go off on your own.’

‘Shingetsu-kun would still be with me,’ Komaru said.

Fukawa gave her a long look. ‘That little brat,’ she said. ‘This was his idea, wasn’t it?

‘It’s not like that ...’

‘You can’t keep thinking like he’s a kid, Omaru –’

Komaru winced.

‘He’s a teenage boy. He wants me to stay behind so he can get you on your own. And after that … ’

‘Don’t say it!’ Komaru squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Heh. You’re so naive. Such a good girl …’

‘What about you and Togami-san, then?’

‘Wh-what?’ Fukawa’s eyes went wide. ‘You can’t ask about that! It’s not for peasants like you to know!’

Komaru tried not to grin. She’d mostly wanted to distract Fukawa, but she was curious. She’d never imagined that Togami would actually condescend to sleep with Fukawa, despite Fukawa’s wretched fantasies. It was hard for her to believe they’d actually done it.

‘You’re worried about the little Togami? Should you be travelling while you’re pregnant?’

‘I’m not that far along,’ Fukawa said. She seemed relieved by the question. ‘And the morning sickness should be over soon … it’d be more dangerous if I stayed here worrying about you.’

‘Aw, Toko-chan.’

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Fukawa said. Even though it was only fondness. ‘I’m coming, and that’s that.’

***

Komaru explained the plan to the others after breakfast.

‘The other group should be making their way to the mainland here,’ she said, pointing to a spot on the coastline, using Shingetsu’s map. ‘The three of us were planning to go meet them –’

‘You’re going back out there?’ Momota interrupted. ‘I want to go too!’

Harukawa gave him an odd look. ‘Are you sure that’s alright? You’ve been sick.’

‘Ah, it’s fine,’ he said. ‘Being cooped up here, that’s the problem. What do you say, Saihara? Shall we head out to the new world?’

‘Of course Saihara-chan won’t go!’ Oma said. ‘He has to stay and help interrogate the mastermind.’

‘Whaddaya want to interrogate her for?’ Iruma said. ‘We already know she did it.’

‘There are still a lot of unanswered questions,’ Saihara said. He seemed grateful that Oma had spoken up. ‘But Harukawa-san, you should go.’

Komaru still had her finger on the map. ‘Anyone’s welcome to join us,’ she said. ‘We don’t know how long it will take, though, or how safe it will be.’ She didn’t really want a big group, but she couldn’t very well force anyone to stay behind.

‘I’ll go,’ Harukawa said.

‘Gonta wants to come too! Gonta not like being cooped up here.’

‘And plus, you might get to find some new bugs,’ Oma said, clapping Gonta on the arm.

‘Bugs? Ah, well, there were certainly plenty of those, weren’t there, Toko-chan?’

‘R-right.’

‘Well, you can count me out,’ Iruma said. ‘The rest of you losers can go sleep with bugs or whatever. I’m staying here.’

No-one else put their hands up to go. ‘So then that’s six,’ Komaru said. She drew their attention back to the map, and the preparations they would have to make. The plan was to leave the next morning.

She just had to hope Kotoko and the others could cope with Monaka on their own.


	5. Chapter 5

Saihara was back in the hidden room again. Before she’d left, Harukawa had stopped him and said, ‘It’s in your hands now.’ With a fierce look on her face, as if she were daring him to let her down.

So here he was, hunting for evidence that anyone other than Monaka had been here. He’d emptied the bin to sort through the rubbish when he was interrupted.

‘Saihara-chan, what are you doing?’

Saihara hadn’t heard Oma come in, and he jumped, knocking his head on the desk. Oma dropped himself onto the chair beside him, and waited for Saihara to answer.

Saihara rubbed his head and straightened. ‘It’s probably nothing,’ he said. And hesitated. If Monaka had an accomplice … he couldn’t trust anyone.

‘Really? I could’ve sworn you were looking for clues. But Monaka-chan’s all locked up now; you don’t have to keep going.’

‘We don’t understand what really happened, though.’ Saihara got to his feet, so Oma wasn’t looking down on him.

Oma swung slightly on the chair. ‘I guess you don’t want my help, do you? Cos I’m definitely the most suspicious one here. I mean, if you’re thinking that Monaka-chan didn’t do it alone.’

Saihara looked away. He didn’t want Oma’s help, it was true. Was it really because he suspected Oma, though? Or was it just that Oma lied about everything? Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t trust anything Oma said.

But still, if Oma already knew what he was thinking ...

‘Harukawa-san thought so too,’ he admitted. ‘I know how she got the idea, but why do you think Monaka-san had help?’

‘Why, obviously it was because I helped her,’ Oma said. A wicked grin spread across his face, and he held it for long enough that Saihara started to worry. ‘... that’s what you’re thinking, right, Saihara-chan?’

‘O-only because you said it,’ Saihara said. ‘What am I meant to think, when you say things like that?’

‘How mean,’ Oma said. ‘You could believe in me. If Momota said it, you’d believe him, right? Even though he’s not any more reliable.’

‘That’s different,’ Saihara said.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter what you think of me. But if Monaka had an accomplice, I don’t want them to get away with it.’

‘Do you really?’

Oma stood up, looking affronted. ‘Yes, really. So you better work it out, Saihara-chan! We’re all counting on you.’

Maybe Oma _was_ actually worried.

‘I’m not intending to give up,’ Saihara said. ‘Not until we have all the answers.’ He might’ve said more, but they were interrupted by Shirogane. She came into the room in a flurry, and stopped short when she saw them there, like she’d forgotten what she’d come for.

‘What’s up?’ Oma asked her, still swinging on the chair.

Shirogane shook her head and composed herself. ‘It’s Monaka-san,’ she said. ‘She’s dead.’

***

Monaka’s body had been laid out in the centre of the classroom. All around her were pieces of metal and electronics forming the shape of a heart. If you looked closer, you could see that they were pieces of Monophanie. She’d been smashed up, or dismantled.

‘Why?’ Yumeno said. ‘Why does this keep happening?’ Her voice became a wail, but Saihara couldn’t blame her; he felt the same way.

‘I guess we won’t be getting a file this time,’ Shirogane said. She sounded like she was trying to make a joke, but no-one smiled.

Kotoko and the other newcomers were the last to arrived, accompanied by Kiibo. When they came in, Kotoko called out Monaka’s name and pushed to the front of the group. She stopped outside the heart.

‘You guys killed her after all,’ she said.

‘Whaddaya mean, _you guys_?’ Iruma asked. ‘For all we know, it was one of you!’

‘It could have been,’ Jataro said. ‘After everything that happened, that she died like this …’ He clapped a hand over his mouth to stop a giggle.

Daimon whacked him on the arm. ‘Show some respect,’ he said. He might’ve said something else, but he stopped when he looked at Iruma.

‘We should shut the lot of ’em away now,’ she said.

‘That seems a little unreasonable,’ Shirogane said. ‘Once we work out who did it –’

‘Does it matter who did it?’ Oma asked. ‘The game ended. It’s not like we have to do a trial or anything.’

‘But we do have to work out who was responsible.’

‘Why?’ Oma asked. ‘Why do we have to keep working it out?’

‘Cos we don’t want to get murdered next, dumbass,’ Iruma said.

‘They’re right,’ Saihara said. ‘We have to work it out. If not for her sake, then for the sake of everyone else who died because of her.’

Akamatsu. Amami. If Monaka had had an accomplice, if that accomplice was the one who’d killed Amami … it made sense they’d want to keep Monaka from talking.

‘Without a file,’ Saihara said, ‘I guess we’ll just have to examine the body.’ And without Harukawa, he knew it was up to him. He stepped over the pieces of Monophanie and crouched down in front of the body, putting his hands on Monaka’s shoulder to push her onto her back. He tried to do it gently, but it still felt like he dropped her.

Once she was on her back, he could see the bruises on her neck. That was probably how she’d died – she’d been strangled. Someone with small hands. When he touched her skin, it was cool. She’d been dead a while.

‘Who found her?’ he asked.

‘I did,’ Kiibo said. ‘I was meant to bring her meal this morning. But she was like this when I arrived.’

 _Like this._ Arranged like a piece of art, like a taunt.

Kotoko came over and knelt down beside Saihara, folding her skirt under her so she didn’t disturb anything. She put her hand out and laid it over Monaka’s. ‘She’s really dead,’ she said. Saihara thought her voice sounded a little more in awe than horror.

‘It doesn’t seem like there was a weapon this time,’ Saihara said. He stood up again. Noticed a piece of Monophanie’s faceplate. ‘Iruma-san, maybe you can work out what happened to Monophanie.’

‘Yeah, someone took her apart.’ Iruma spoke like he was an idiot.

‘But did they disable her first? Or …’

Iruma picked through the pieces a bit, and she shrugged. ‘Nothing’s damaged,’ she said. ‘It’s just in pieces.’

‘We … we don’t have to stay here for the investigation, do we?’ Yumeno asked.

‘You might not want to go off on your own,’ Shirogane said. She sounded distracted. ‘Whoever did this wasn’t playing by Monokuma’s rules. We don’t know that they won’t try again.’

The room went silent. It was true – up till now, they’d been able to assume that, for the length of time they had to investigate, there would be no more murders. But now …

Saihara couldn’t worry about that at the moment. He had to focus on Monaka.

‘If she was dead when Kiibo found her,’ he said, ‘someone else must’ve been the last person to see her alive.’

‘I took her dinner last night,’ Yumeno said, ‘and she was definitely alive then.’

‘What time was that?’

‘Um … around eight maybe?’

‘No-one else came here after that?’

No-one else admitted to it.

‘What about you three?’ Iruma asked, rounding on Daimon.

‘It wasn’t me!’ Daimon said. ‘I spoke to her earlier, but that’s all.’ He frowned, as if what he remembered annoyed him.

‘I didn’t visit her,’ Jataro said.

‘Not at all?’ Iruma asked.

Jataro shook his head.

‘What about you, Utsugi-san?’ Saihara asked.

‘I didn’t visit Monaka-chan last night,’ Kotoko said. ‘Maybe I could have done something …’

‘Well, it’s not like they’d just admit it,’ Oma said.

‘Because we didn’t do anything!’ Daimon said.

‘So what’s your alibi?’ Oma said. He folded his arms. ‘If you didn’t do it, you should be able to prove it.’

‘We don’t have to prove anything,’ Kotoko said. ‘Aren’t you the ones who wanted her dead?’

‘Sorry,’ Shirogane interrupted, ‘but maybe this isn’t the best place to do this?’ She looked a little pale.

They were all feeling freaked out. ‘You’re right, Shirogane-san,’ Saihara said. ‘We can discuss alibis later.’ One on one, where it wouldn’t just lead to arguments.

He got to his feet, and hesitated. ‘We’ll have to do something with her,’ he said, ‘after the investigation.’ It didn’t seem right, just leaving the body like this. Monokuma had always dealt with the bodies before.

‘I don’t think anyone here feels like holding a funeral,’ Oma said.

‘I’d like to have a funeral,’ Kotoko said. She got to her feet, her hands folded together. ‘I think she deserves that much. Even if she was a nasty piece of work.’ She turned and left the room, not worrying about whether or not she might get caught alone. Daimon prevaricated a little, and then followed her.

Some of the anger dissipated from the room, turned into awkwardness.

‘Anyway,’ Yumeno said, shifting on her feet, ‘I don’t think my magic will be much help with this one, so …’

‘I’ll go with you,’ Shirogane said.

‘Saihara-san, do you need any more help?’ Kiibo asked.

Any _more_ help. Was it really going to be up to Saihara alone to investigate this? Not just whether Monaka had an accomplice, but a murder too?

‘Maybe,’ he said, ‘someone could help me see if there’s anything useful on those computers.’

‘You mean downstairs?’ Oma asked. ‘Haven’t you checked that out already?’

The monitors had been set to show various angles around the school, but Saihara hadn’t been able to get into anything else. ‘I meant to ask Iruma to help me with that.’

‘Ah-hah!’ Iruma said. ‘So Saihara needs my help. Alright, but you better think up a good way to pay me back.’

They split up again from there, and Saihara was left with Iruma.

‘So,’ she said, ‘who’d you think did it?’

‘It’s too soon to say,’ Saihara said. He stepped back from the body, wondering if there was anything he’d missed.

‘Those kids are suspicious, right?’ Iruma said.

‘I don’t know,’ Saihara said. ‘We don’t know what sort of relationship they had.’

‘They used to be friends, I heard. So they gotta have had a falling out. Whaddaya think of that as a motive?’

It seemed a petty one, for murder. ‘We’ll have to talk to them some more,’ he said. Meaning _he_ would have to talk to them some more – Iruma was hardly likely to be an impartial interviewer.

‘So, down in the hidden room, right?’ Iruma said. She headed for the door, and Saihara followed after her, promising himself he’d deal with Monaka’s body later. ‘Y’know, I am curious what Monaka was watching on there.’

‘We never did see any cameras or anything … but if they’re still running, maybe we’ll be able to see who did it.’ He doubted it – if Monaka had been killed by her own accomplice, then they would have known about the cameras and could have done something about them.

‘Yeah, and maybe I’ll get to catch one of you guys tugging one off.’ Iruma laughed.

Saihara thought it was better not to respond to that. To change the subject, he said, ‘What about you? What were you doing last night?’

‘Me?’ she said. Her grin widened. ‘Why, you want to rub one out right here? Gross, dude.’

‘For the case,’ he said, blushing. ‘Your alibi.’

‘You want my alibi? I stayed up late working out useful stuff for if we have to go out into the wild. Like something we could use to hunt birds for us. Or, you know, perve on girls in the bath. It’s multifunctional.’

‘So you were alone?’

She shook her head. ‘I got Kiibo to help me test some stuff.’

‘And in the morning?’

Iruma shrugged. ‘We stayed up late, so … I only woke up when Shirogane came to get me.’ Her expression changed, remembering the moment and their situation. ‘Ah, but no-one can corroborate that. Kiibo went to bed a little after three, so …’

No wonder she’d slept in. But Kiibo had managed to get up in time to get Monaka’s breakfast and find the body. He tried to imagine Kiibo killing Monaka. Strangulation wasn’t a very sci-fi way to kill someone. But then, Kiibo wasn’t a very sci-fi robot.

They arrived at the bottom of the stairs to the library, and Iruma said, ‘Look, uh, you don’t have to stick around. I’ll just work on that computer myself.’

‘It’s fine,’ Saihara said. ‘We still don’t know who the killer is, remember?’ He just had to hope it wasn’t Iruma. She seemed pleased by his response – that could have been good or bad.

Once Iruma had got into the computer system, they skipped through the video footage together. It was uncomfortable work – seeing themselves, seeing Monaka still alive. He saw Daimon check in on her, but he wasn’t there long before he appeared to get mad and stormed off. Later Yumeno dropped off Monaka’s dinner. And after that … Monaka turned off the light at some point, presumably so she could try and sleep.

Then the footage was dark until Kiibo came in the next morning and turned on the light.

They looked over it several times. ‘That can’t be right,’ Saihara said. ‘Even if they could’ve killed her in the dark, it would have been difficult setting Monophanie’s pieces out like that.’

‘Maybe we weren’t the only ones to come down here,’ Iruma said. ‘Someone coulda messed with the footage.’

‘Do you think they did?’

Iruma cracked her fingers out in front of her. ‘Imma work out if they changed this file. Saihara, you don’t have to keep hanging around.’ She flashed him a grin. ‘Although if you’re feeling horny, we could take a break –’

‘I’d better stake taking testimonies,’ Saihara said. ‘Thanks for your help.’

Iruma shrugged and waved. ‘Your loss,’ she said.

***

When Saihara entered the dining hall, Yumeno was sitting on her own, looking despondent. Oma and Kiibo were there too, but they weren’t with her.

He approached Yumeno first.

‘Saihara. I guess you’ve come to ask for my help.’ Yumeno scratched her head. ‘Sorry, but I don’t think I’m up to it now.’

‘Ah, I don’t need your magic right now, Yumeno-san.’ He wondered when Shirogane hadn’t stayed with her. ‘I just wanted to ask you about last night.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ Yumeno looked up at the ceiling. ‘Cos I was the last one to see her, right?’

‘Maybe she said something? Or you saw someone afterwards?’

‘Um … she mostly said stuff about Angie and Tenko.’ Yumeno looked downcast. ‘I don’t think I can feel bad that she’s dead. She deserved it.’

‘She didn’t say anything about anyone else?’

Yumeno blinked at him. ‘No … and I didn’t see anyone else either …’

There hadn’t been anyone else on the video when Yumeno had been there either, although obviously the footage had been tampered with. ‘What about after you left? What did you do then?’

‘Took the stuff back to the kitchen … then I went back to the dorms. Shirogane can tell you. I wanted to pack up some of Tenko’s stuff, but it was a pain ...’

‘Shirogane-san saw you?’

‘Yeah … I guess she tried to make me feel better.’ From the expression on Yumeno’s face, it hadn’t worked. ‘If only my magic was working,’ she said, ‘then we wouldn’t have to go through all this.’

‘Sorry. I had to ask.’

She shrugged.

Yumeno remembered Shirogane leaving the dorms, but not coming back – she’d been in bed by then. Saihara would have to check that with Shirogane.

‘Do you know where she went just now? She was with you, wasn’t she?’

‘Yeah … she went off with that Utsugi girl. I wasn’t really in the mood for company, so …’

‘Right,’ Saihara said. ‘I’ll leave you alone.’ He looked across the room, to where Kiibo and Oma had been listening in.

‘I was with Iruma-san till late,’ Kiibo said, when Saihara went to join them. ‘She’ll tell you that, I’m sure.’

Saihara nodded. ‘I already spoke to Iruma-san.’

‘You coulda done it afterwards though, right, Kiibou?’ Oma said. ‘It’s not like you need to sleep, after all.’

‘That’s robophobic!’ Kiibo said. ‘Anyone could have got up at that time!’

‘What about you?’ Saihara asked Oma. ‘What’s your alibi?’

‘My alibi?’ Oma rested a finger against his lips, as if to consider it. ‘I know, why don’t we play a game, and if you win, I’ll tell you!’

‘And if you win?’

Oma leaned back in his chair. ‘Well, then I get to kill you. You still owe me a game, remember.’

‘Kill him?’ Kiibo looked distressed.

‘That doesn’t seem right,’ Saihara argued. ‘Isn’t it in your own interest to tell me what your alibi is?’

‘Aw, Saihara-chan, you got me. Fine, we’ll play, and if I win, I’ll tell you, and if you win …’ He grinned. ‘Well, you better not win.’

Saihara sighed. ‘Fine. I’ll play.’

They played pick-up sticks. It should have been an easy game to lose, but whenever things were getting tricky, Oma would make audacious moves that wouldn’t gain him any sticks, but which made things easier for Saihara.

‘Are you _trying_ to make me win?’ Saihara asked, exasperated.

Oma had a glint in his eye, like he was enjoying Saihara’s frustration. ‘We’ll make it best of three,’ he said.

In the second game, Saihara was so nervous that he stuffed up easy pickups, and Oma won.

‘I can’t watch,’ Kiibo said, covering his eyes.

In the third game, Oma made exactly the same kind of audacious moves that he’d been making before, except this time they actually paid off. He looked pleased with himself, as he counted up sticks at the end. Saihara just felt relieved.

‘Tough luck for you, Saihara-chan,’ Oma said, ‘you have to listen to my story after all!’

Saihara helped to tidy the sticks away. ‘I’m listening.’

‘The truth is,’ Oma said, ‘I was playing with Jataro-chan.’

It took a moment to work out who Oma meant. ‘Is that a lie?’

‘Hm, I wonder. You’ll have to ask him and find out.’

Well, he was going to have to do that anyway. ‘What were you playing?’

‘Drawing.’

‘You were playing a drawing game?’

‘Uh-huh.’

Somehow it seemed unlikely. ‘How long were you playing this drawing game for?’

‘Well, we started after dinner. Then Utsugi-chan interrupted us round nine, but we got rid of her. So … maybe till ten o’clock?’

‘What did Utsugi-san want?’

‘Oh, she said our game was too noisy and we had to keep it down. So we made her play a round. She ran away after that.’

‘... that’s some game,’ Saihara said.

‘I know what,’ Oma said, like he’d just come up with the idea, ‘you should play with us sometime, Saihara-chan!’

‘I think I’m alright,’ Saihara said. If the game made Kotoko run away, it didn’t seem harmless somehow. 

‘I’d like to play,’ Kiibo said.

‘Huh?’ Oma said. ‘But robots can’t draw.’

‘I can draw!’ Kiibo said. ‘At least, I can try.’

Saihara didn’t want them to start arguing. ‘When you said the game was too noisy … what did you mean?’ Saihara asked. ‘Shouldn’t a drawing game be quiet?’

‘Oh, that was the forfeits,’ Oma said. ‘Whoever would lose, the other one would get to torture. It was pretty painful.’

Kiibo looked aghast.

‘... and you want me to play this game?’ Saihara said.

‘Sure,’ Oma said, as if it were a completely reasonable suggestion. ‘It’s always fun playing you.’

Saihara knew he was lying. He supposed it didn’t matter, as long as Jataro and Kotoko backed up his story.

And depending on whether Iruma could figure anything more out, it might not matter anyway.

***

He looked for Shirogane and Kotoko next. Shirogane’s lab seemed like the obvious place to go, so he went and he knocked on the door.

No-one answered.

Still, he thought he could hear voices inside, so he opened the door. They were both in there, Shirogane with a measuring tape around Kotoko’s chest, and Kotoko with only a bra on top. A very cute pink-spotted bra.

‘Sorry,’ Saihara said. ‘Really sorry.’ He backed out the room.

‘Pervert!’ Kotoko called after him.

Saihara shut the door firmly behind himself, his face hot. He should have knocked more loudly … he’d always be able to picture it now ...

Shirogane came out to join him. ‘You had to see that, didn’t you? Ah, how embarrassing.’

‘Sorry,’ Saihara said again, unable to look her in the eye. ‘I thought I knocked.’

‘Mm. I guess we weren’t paying attention. Did you need something?’

‘I was looking for you guys,’ Saihara said. ‘I need to confirm something with Utsugi-san.’

‘About the murder?’ Shirogane asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘Hmm … well, I don’t think it’s a good time. She’s not in a great mood …’

‘It was completely an accident,’ Saihara said. ‘I’m really sorry.’

‘Well, I’ll believe it if you say so.’ She gave him a smile. ‘I’ll try and convince her you’re not just a dirty pervert.’

Saihara wasn’t sure if he should be reassured or not.

‘Now, was that all?’

‘Yeah.’ There were other people Saihara could check on. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

‘Of course,’ Shirogane said. ‘Even without the class trials, we can’t let a case like this go unsolved, can we?’

‘I hope not,’ Saihara said.

He practically ran away after that.

***

Kotoko was fuming. She hadn’t thought Saihara was the peeping type, but it just went to show that all guys were the same.

She shrugged her shirt back on, and waited for Shirogane to finish with him. Shirogane’s lab was a weird mixture of familiar and discomforting: the lights and the backdrop set up for photography; the fabrics and fittings; all the things Kotoko had left behind.

She’d asked Shirogane about clothes – the weeks of travel had left her somewhat ragged. Shirogane had insisted she’d make something, but Kotoko began to poke through her wardrobe anyway. She wasn’t sure who half the outfits were meant to be, but there were some cute pieces.

Then Kotoko came across an outfit that she couldn’t mistake. One that was familiar and discomforting and not cosplay at all, because Kotoko had known the woman who wore it.

The sound of Shirogane opening the door startled her; Kotoko dropped the hem she’d been holding and schooled her features as she turned back to Shirogane.

‘Sorry about that,’ Shirogane said.’ Saihara-kun didn’t mean anything bad; it was just poor timing.’

‘What did he want?’

‘Something about the other night, I think.’

‘The other night? You mean, about Monaka-chan?’

‘Mm, probably.’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ Kotoko said.

‘I don’t think Saihara-kun thinks you did anything. He’s just … what is it detectives do? Building a timeline.’

‘A timeline?’

‘Yeah. I don’t know why we need it though. If everything’s over, isn’t it better just to let it be? You think so, don’t you, Utsugi-san?’

Kotoko wasn’t sure. ‘A detective wouldn’t think so.’

‘Mm … well. He might not be a very good detective. But that’s beside the point.’ Shirogane clapped her hands together, looking livelier. ‘I haven’t finished measuring you.’

She let Shirogane finish the measurements, her hands warm and efficient. She’d been relaxed about it before, but now she was tense. Wondering why Shirogane had made a version of one of Junko’s outfits. Shirogane hadn’t even _known_ Junko.

Maybe she was thinking of her like one of the characters she cosplayed, but Junko wasn’t a character, wasn’t just a story, to attribute fault to. Junko had been kind to them when no-one else was, had seen in them something no-one else saw …

Had Monaka known about Shirogane playing dress up?

‘All done!’ Shirogane said. ‘Have you thought of anyone you’d like to cosplay as? I know you said you just needed some new clothes, but I think if you tried it, you’d see how fun it is.’

‘I don’t need to dress up as someone else,’ Kotoko said. She felt a little petulant, saying it – but she’d been dressed up, played with before. She didn’t want Shirogane doing it too.

‘Oh.’ Shirogane rested her chin on her hand. ‘That’s a shame. You’re so cute, you know. I’m so plain. It’s only when I cosplay that anyone would even think to look at me. I guess if you’re cute, you don’t have that problem.’

Kotoko demurred.

‘I still think you should try it. If you don’t try, how will you know you don’t like it?’

Kotoko was beginning to feel irritated. Shirogane kept on pushing, and Kotoko already felt sick, with the smell of hair product and the bright lights, and the thought of what she’d found.

She should tell someone, she thought. It might be relevant.

She began pulling her clothes back on again, layers like armour. ‘How do you choose a character?’ she asked.

‘Oh, good question,’ Shirogane said. ‘Hm … I guess, someone you admire? Like, if a character has traits that you wish you had … then, if you dress up, you can feel like you really are them! Even if you have to go back to being plain old you at the end … it’s still fun for a little while.’

Wanting to be like Junko … Kotoko could understand that. She understood it too well.

But that was the real Junko. Shirogane was talking about someone in a story.

And Kotoko knew the kind of story Junko had been in. And Kotoko and Monaka with her.


	6. Chapter 6

‘Saihara-chan! Worked out who the murderer is yet?’ Oma bounced up to him at dinner time, when Saihara couldn’t escape.

‘No,’ he said. He wanted to sink under the table and hide. He’d found Jataro and Daimon after leaving Shirogane, but they hadn’t been any help. Jataro had just confined Oma’s story (minus the torture) and Daimon had claimed to be doing laps in the pool. He had mentioned seeing Shirogane talking to Yumeno afterwards, so that lined up with Yumeno’s story.

‘No?’ Oma said. He pointed a finger at Saihara. ‘Aren’t you slacking off? It’s not like it’s some super-duper complicated case.’

‘That might be the problem,’ Saihara muttered. ‘Anyone could have done it.’

Oma pulled up a seat next to him, ignoring the vibes Saihara was sending out to be left alone. ‘Hm. Well, if that’s too simple for you, how about working out who Monaka-chan’s accomplice is?’

Saihara sunk deeper into his chair. He thought of Akamatsu, and the possibility that she hadn’t really killed Amami. That someone else was responsible, and they were the one who’d condemned Akamatsu.

He wished he had Akamatsu beside him now. Instead he had Oma. Who Saihara couldn’t help feeling was the most suspicious, even if it weren’t entirely justified.

‘I asked Iruma-san to check the computers,’ Saihara said, ‘but she couldn’t find anything.’ Iruma had been fairly certain the footage had been manipulated, but she hadn’t been able to restore the previous version.

‘She _said_ she couldn’t find anything. She coulda destroyed it herself.’

‘You think Iruma-san might be behind it?’

Oma smiled. ‘Maybe. What do you think, Saihara-chan?’

He imagined Iruma being in the hidden room with Monaka. Imagined her getting angry when Akamatsu’s attempt to kill the mastermind went wrong, storming out to kill Amami herself.

But there was something wrong with that. Because Iruma had an alibi. ‘She couldn’t have killed Amami-kun,’ Saihara said.

‘Huh?’

‘I think we need to look at the first case again,’ Saihara said.

***

That night, Kotoko accepted Oma’s invitation to play cards with him and Jataro. She felt vaguely guilty, because Shirogane had looked like she wanted to talk. But she couldn’t help imagining Shirogane dressing up as Junko.

‘Say, Oma-kun, how well do you know Shirogane-san?’

She picked up the cards he’d dealt without seeing them.

‘Shirogane-chan? Hm, I can’t say I’ve noticed … which one is she?’

‘She’s the one with glasses,’ Jataro said, as if Oma weren’t having him on.

‘Right! She’s so plain I forgot all about her. What about Shirogane-chan?’

Kotoko wanted to sink back and hide behind her cards. ‘I was in her lab,’ she said, ‘and she’s got all this cosplay stuff, but did you know she’s got an outfit like ... like Enoshima Junko?’

‘That’s kind of sad,’ Jataro said, the edge of a snicker in his voice.

‘Sorry, who?’ Oma looked blank.

‘Enoshima Junko. Despair. You didn’t forget that?’

Oma smiled at her, showing his teeth. ‘I guess I must have. That’s to do with that really really horrible tragedy, right?’

‘She ran the first killing game,’ Kotoko said carefully. ‘The one Fukawa-san was in.’

‘You’re saying this Enoshima was a real person.’

‘Of course.’

‘And Shirogane-chan had an outfit to dress up like her? That’s funny.’ He looked away, thinking. ‘I guess that’s another lie from Akamatsu-chan.’ He put his cards down. ‘Hey, want to play a trick on Shirogane-chan?’

‘What sort of trick?’ Jataro asked.

‘Well … it would really freak her out if Utsugi-chan dressed up in that outfit, right? I bet we’d get a good reaction. And we might learn something good.’

‘You think I should dress up as Junko-neesan?’ She was surprised into talking about Junko familiarly, but Oma didn’t seem to notice. He nodded.

‘Jataro-chan, you scout ahead and see if her lab’s empty.’

‘Why me?’ Jataro was taken-aback.

‘Well, she’s definitely going to be suspicious if I do it. And if Utsugi-chan did it, she might get made to dress up as something else.’

‘But what if she’s there?’ Jataro said, twisting his fingers nervously.

‘Say you want to borrow some of her supplies for a project,’ Kotoko said. ‘It’s true, after all.’ She glanced back at Oma’s innocent-looking face.

Jataro agreed gingerly. Kotoko wasn’t confident about it herself … but she did want to see Shirogane’s reaction. And maybe they would learn something. Like if Shirogane had been involved in Monaka’s death. Or worse.

***

‘Saihara-chan!’ Oma grabbed onto Saihara’s arm in the hallway, excited. ‘We’re planning something, want to see?’

‘Planning something?’ Saihara found that a little concerning, coming from Oma.

Oma grinned at him. ‘A trap,’ he said.

‘What kind of a trap?’

‘You’ll see!’

Saihara let himself be dragged toward the doors, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Oma was up to. ‘Where are we going?’

‘To the dorms.’

It was cool outside, with the false sky darkening into twilight. Oma didn’t let go of Saihara’s arm until they got to the dorms.

‘We’ll go to my room,’ he said. ‘It should be all set up now.’

When they got to Oma’s room, Iruma was there already, with a laptop set up on the desk. Saihara was surprised she’d managed to make space for it – Oma had a lot of crap in his room. Some of it was evidence from the trials, which was a little disturbing.

‘Is it ready?’ Oma asked.

‘All good to go,’ Iruma said, patting the computer fondly. ‘Hey, Utsugi, you hear us?’

‘I hear you.’ Kotoko’s voice was tinny through the computer speakers. Saihara looked closer at the computer. At first glance, he wouldn’t have realised it was Kotoko they were looking at. She was in one of the dorm rooms, and she was wearing a wig, and clothes that didn’t seem like hers.

‘Alright!’ Iruma said. ‘We’ll let you know once Shirogane is coming, and then we’ll be on mute.’

‘What exactly is going on?’ Saihara asked. ‘What about Shirogane-san?’

‘You didn’t tell him?’ Iruma turned on Oma, who held his hands up in innocence.

‘I wanted it to be a surprise.’

‘Who is Utsugi-san dressed as?’ Saihara asked, wondering if any of his questions would get an answer. ‘Is she … cosplaying?’

‘Hah!’ Iruma said. ‘Cosplaying as a tramp, alright!’

‘It’s not cosplay,’ Oma said. ‘Remember what Shirogane-chan said in the first trial? You can’t cosplay as a real person.’

So Kotoko was dressed up as someone real. Someone Shirogane knew? Then he thought again about what Oma had said.

‘She said that _she_ couldn’t cosplay as a real person,’ he said, ‘didn’t she? Because of the … cospox.’ It sounded false as he said it.

‘Ohhh,’ Oma said, as if he had forgotten. ‘That’s what she said, isn’t it?’

Saihara didn’t like the dubious note in his voice. ‘Akamatsu-san saw it.’

‘Right,’ Oma said. ‘And Akamatsu-chan wouldn’t lie, so we gotta believe it. But anyway, Utsugi-chan doesn’t have cospox.’

‘I don’t know what you’re blathering about,’ Kotoko said, over the speakers. She shifted her posture, looking bored.

Saihara figured that Kotoko must be in Shirogane’s room, but Oma didn’t seem inclined to explain why. It made Saihara uncomfortable, not knowing.

It wasn’t long before another voice came over the speakers – Jataro had apparently been roped in as well. ‘Shirogane-san is on her way,’ he said.

‘Good,’ Iruma said. ‘If you wanna come back here, we’ll get this gangbang started.’

Whatever Jataro might have said in response, Iruma cut it off. Saihara found himself blushing.

‘Come on,’ Iruma said, seeing his embarrassment, ‘what’s the point of being alone with a bunch of guys if I’m not getting done out of it?’

‘No-one’s doing a cumbucket like you,’ Oma said.

‘Can you guys please shut up?’ Kotoko said. Maybe she was as embarrassed as Saihara was. She must think she’d ended up in some hive of sex fiends.

‘Yeah yeah,’ Iruma said, ‘I’ll put us on mute. Good luck.’

She made a change on the computer, and leaned back. ‘So,’ she said, ‘now you’re waiting –’

‘Didn’t you hear? Utsugi-chan said to keep your dumb mouth shut,’ Oma said.

Iruma looked a little hurt, and Saihara felt bad for being relieved that she’d stopped talking. He didn’t want to hear Iruma’s innuendos either. Were they even innuendos if she put them so bluntly?

‘There she is,’ Oma said, ignoring them and leaning forward toward the screen.

***

When Shirogane came in, it took her a moment to register Kotoko’s presence.

Junko’s presence. Kotoko was playing Junko right now.

‘Wh-what are you …’

‘ _Bored_ ,’ Kotoko said. ‘You should’ve known I’d be bored. Twenty-four hours and no-one’s found the culprit yet?’ She clicked her tongue dismissively. ‘When I did it, I knew how to get people working.’

‘That’s …. that was a different situation,’ Shirogane said. She straightened. ‘You’re not really Enoshima-san though, are you?’

‘Bingo!’ Kotoko said. ‘Enoshima Junko is no more. But Despair lives forever!’ She stepped closer to Shirogane, forcing her to back up a step. ‘You started off pretty well, I thought. Not my equal, of course, but what an idea – take humanity’s last survivors and turn them against each other!’ She could imagine Junko’s glee, could paint it on her face. And then change. ‘But look what happened. You let an ordinary girl like _that_ get the best of you.’

She took another step closer. Shirogane was flushed, but there was something in her eyes …

‘It’s not over yet,’ she said.

‘No? You can’t even get them to care about solving _poor Monaka-chan’s murder_.’ Monaka, who’d tried the same thing as Shirogane in the past. Tried to live up to Junko’s example. Tried to be her. ‘Of course, it would be sad if you got executed,’ Kotoko said, and looked at Shirogane with pitying eyes, ‘but that just means you were never really Despair in the first place. I guess Monaka-chan must’ve been the mastermind after all.’

‘That’s not true!’ Shirogane said. ‘Didn’t I start this whole thing off? The game would never have begun if I hadn’t stepped in.’ Her expression hardened, and Kotoko felt herself waver.

‘I’ll finish it too,’ Shirogane said, and she grabbed for Kotoko’s wig, yanking it hard and throwing it to the floor. ‘I thought you said you weren’t interested in cosplay, Utsugi-san.’

They both moved to grab the lamp on the desk at the same time, but Shirogane got there first. She yanked it free, and aimed it down at Kotoko’s head. Kotoko dodged, but Shirogane didn’t stop, forcing Kotoko to move back and back.

She was going to kill her. Kotoko had nothing to fight her with; Shirogane was between her and the door.

Shirogane had lifted the lamp again when the door opened.

‘Stop that, Shirogane-san!’ Saihara’s voice.

Kotoko thought for a moment that Shirogane would bring the lamp down anyway. But if Saihara meant to stop Shirogane with words alone, Jataro didn’t, and he launched himself at Shirogane so that they both fell on the floor.

‘You leave her alone!’ he said.

Which, given she’d thought she was just about to die, Kotoko was actually quite touched by.

Shirogane shoved Jataro off. ‘She ruined it,’ she said. ‘You all ruined it!’

‘So you admit it was you,’ Oma said. He and Iruma were there as well, witnesses to Shirogane’s crime.

Shirogane glared. ‘Of course it was me,’ she said. ‘You lot all fell for Monaka-san when she offered herself up, but it was me who planned it all –’

‘Did you kill Amami-kun too?’ Saihara asked.

‘What?’

‘With the shot put,’ Saihara said. ‘Akamatsu-san missed, right? She never killed Amami-kun after all, that was you.’ His voice cracked. ‘That’s why Akamatsu-san’s shot put was in the bin …’

Shirogane stared at him a moment, then her face contorted. ‘So what?’ she said. ‘She _meant_ to kill him. I just fixed it so he actually died.’

‘She covered for you!’ Oma said. They were all surprised by his vehemence. ‘But you ... you couldn’t even be bothered following your own rules.’

Shirogane jutted her jaw out. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘You got me. What’re you going to do about it? You can’t kill me, not after all your talk –’

‘We don’t need to kill you,’ Iruma said. ‘There’s a whole wild world out there. You think you’ll survive it on your own?’

Jataro laughed, catching on. ‘You’re going to be so alone,’ he said, ‘and there’s so many things that can kill you out there. In terrible ways.’

Kotoko’s moment of gratitude passed. Jataro was Jataro. With his eyes wide, he looked altogether too pleased by the prospect of Shirogane getting stung to death by giant wasps, or eating bad fruit and shitting herself to death …

Oh, but that was all Kotoko’s own mind.

‘You’re going to exile me?’ Shirogane asked. ‘What kind of justice is that?’

‘It won’t bring Akamatsu-san and the others back,’ Saihara said, ‘but nothing can do that.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Killing doesn’t solve anything.’

‘You shoulda just let Monaka-chan live,’ Oma said.

‘You think I could let her take all the credit?’ Shirogane asked. ‘After she left me in the lurch like that?’

‘So you killed her,’ Kotoko said. She felt tired all of a sudden, and vulnerable. ‘I hope you _don’t_ die out there. I hope you live a long life and every moment is horrible.’

She pushed past Shirogane and Jataro, past the others, and walked out into the night time.

She was trembling. She was still dressed like Junko. And Monaka was still dead. She was never going to make things up to them, or repent, or say sorry, or even smile at Kotoko again, even as a lie.

The dead were never coming back.


	7. Chapter 7

Harukawa had never seen such a monstrous beetle before.

With all six legs on the ground, it wasn’t so bad – almost doglike – but when it reared up, pincers waving, Harukawa backed away quickly. She began on instinct to look for some kind of weapon, and settled for a fallen tree branch.

‘Harukawa-san, don’t!’

Gonta, who was clearly crazy, was moving _toward_ the beetle. Or between her and the beetle? She lowered the branch, feeling curiously that his intention was to protect it and not her.

‘We’re on its territory,’ Gonta said. ‘If we back up, beetle leave us alone. That’s right, isn’t it, beetle?’

The beetle snapped out with its pincers; Gonta was out of reach, but it was obviously feeling threatened. How could he speak to it like a pet?

From the bushes, Harukawa saw movement.

‘Beetles aren’t social animals, are they?’

‘Not usually,’ Gonta said.

‘I think there’s more of them.’

Another three or four – too many – emerged from the bushes. They were moving maliciously, to Harukawa’s eyes.

She began to back up again.

The first beetle snapped, closer to Gonta this time, so that he had to dodge back.

‘Gonta was wrong,’ he said. ‘We better run.’

Harukawa was more than happy to oblige.

***

The rest of the group had taken a break after Momota came over all dizzy. By the time Harukawa got back to them, she was breathing hard, but they’d left the beetles behind.

‘What’s wrong?’ Komaru asked, rising to her feet. 

‘Beetles,’ Harukawa said. It sounded innocuous when she said it, but several of the group went pale.

‘We disturb beetle family,’ Gonta said.

‘They’re not still coming?’ Momota said.

‘It doesn’t seem like it,’ she said. ‘But I think we should take a different route.’

Shingetsu pulled out his map, looking troubled. While they assumed that rivers and mountains were in roughly the same place, it was still hard to navigate anywhere. None of them knew how much time had passed since the asteroid strike, or how the world might have changed. But if they could get to the coast and head north, they should meet the others at some point.

It was such a ridiculous plan. There were so many variables they couldn’t predict … and who could even say that the other group had woken at the same time? Yet Harukawa had come along anyway, because Momota had thought it was a good idea. Momota could hardly even keep up.

And now they had to detour, because a family of beetles happened to be the size of dogs. They should have just stayed behind.

Shingetsu made a tucking noise with his teeth, and folded the map away. ‘May as well not bother,’ he said.

‘But we’ll need it to get back, right?’ Komaru said.

Shingetsu rubbed at his temple. ‘I’ll keep taking the bearings, but …’

‘It’s only around beetle territory,’ Gonta said.

‘How many beetles are there?’ Momota asked. He was pale – from fear or sickness Harukawa couldn’t tell – but he pushed himself to his feet.

‘Not how many,’ Shingetsu said, ‘how big.’

‘How _big_?’

‘Shingetsu, you’ve seen them before?’ Harukawa asked.

He nodded.

‘It’s better not to disturb them,’ Komaru said. ‘We learned that early on.’

‘Wow,’ Momota said. ‘Giant bugs. I guess your talent’s really going to come in handy, huh, Gonta?’

‘You think so? Gonta glad!’

***

They’d expected to hit the river tonight, but detouring around the beetle territory meant it took longer than they’d thought. Harukawa noticed Momota lagging again; his cough, which had never gotten any better, was getting worse. He kept trying to hide it.

And then he fell.

Harukawa thought at first he’d tripped – it was edging into twilight – but he didn’t get up again.

‘Are you alright?’

Everyone but Harukawa was asking that; she just stared at Momota, wordless. He pushed himself into a sitting position.

‘I guess I can’t hide it anymore, huh?’ He made it sound like a joke, but she didn’t want to hear it.

‘Momota-kun alright? Not hurt?’

Momota waved a hand, dismissing Gonta’s concerns. ‘I’m not hurt,’ he said. ‘Just tired. I guess I can’t walk any further. Sorry, guys.’

Harukawa went cold. ‘You should have said you were still sick.’

‘And make you worry?’ Momota said. ‘Nah.’

‘It’s serious, then?’ Fukawa asked. She kept back, as if he might be contagious.

‘We don’t have to keep going,’ Komaru said. ‘We’ve got enough water to last us even if we don’t get to the river tonight.’

‘I don’t wanna make trouble,’ Momota said, but he looked relieved.

‘What about tomorrow?’ Harukawa asked. The words came out more urgently then she’d meant them. ‘It’s only going to get worse, isn’t it? Tell the truth.’

‘Sorry, Harumaki. I think … you’re probably right. I’m not going to make it to the coast.’ Strangely, he smiled at her. ‘But we’ve sure seen some things, haven’t we? I’m glad the killing ended and we got to see the new world.’ He started coughing again, an awful sound; finally Harukawa was able to move to his side.

‘We’re only just getting started,’ she said. Usually, she would be embarrassed, getting this emotional in front of someone. But it was different, seeing Momota like this. ‘You don’t actually think that; you just need to rest.’

‘Yeah, probably.’ He pulled his face in a grimace. ‘Let’s just stay here a bit, shall we?’

Gingerly, she sat down beside him.

‘We’ll get dinner ready,’ Komaru said. ‘Momota-kun, you just rest, okay?’

‘Roger that,’ Momota said.

Harukawa wrapped her arms around her knees. She wished she could cry. She’d known how once, she was sure.

‘Don’t be sad,’ Momota said. ‘We had fun, didn’t we?’

‘Don’t say that,’ she said. His colour seemed a bit getter, and she wanted to tell him he’d be fine – people got sick all the time – but somehow, after everything that had happened, she couldn’t believe it. If it weren’t serious, he wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide it. He didn’t want to worry them.

He didn’t want to worry her.

‘What do you think it’ll be like?’ Momota said. ‘The sea.’ It was like he thought he could distract her.

‘It’s the sea,’ Harukawa said. ‘It doesn’t change.’

‘But imagine – no boats anywhere. Maybe dolphins have formed an advanced civilisation and you’ll learn to communicate with them. Man, I’d like to see that.’

‘I’m not going to be talking to dolphins.’

‘No? I bet they have a better life than us.’ He pondered it sagely. ‘They could teach us a lot, dolphins.’

‘You think dolphins don’t kill each other?’ Harukawa asked. And Momota laughed, and then the laughing turned to coughing. Long enough that it frightened her.

‘Oh, man, Harumaki,’ he said, when he’d recovered. ‘Only you’d think of dolphins killing each other.’

‘It’s not funny,’ Harukawa said. She felt somehow wistful. Like if this illness only were temporary, then one day she and Momota –

Stupid, that he’d made her think things like _one day_.

***

Harukawa didn’t sleep well, that night; every time she was about to drift off, Momota would have another coughing fit, and she’d be wide awake again, her whole body tense in sympathy.

At some point in the night, she heard him get up, stumbling toward the embers of the fire. He looked up when she joined him, but she couldn’t see whether he were any better or worse.

‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘did I wake you?’ He used a stick to poke at the embers, and she watched them spark.

‘I couldn’t sleep.’

‘Sorry,’ he said again, and lapsed into another coughing fit.

She waited for it to end. There was nothing she could offer him; only her company, and she wasn’t sure what comfort that would be. Even when people had been reassured by her presence in the past, she’d never been sure how she’d done it. She didn’t know how to offer it.

Once he’d stopped coughing, Momota stared at his hand, sitting there in the dark. She didn’t like it.

‘Hey,’ she said, and when he turned his face to hers, she hesitated. ‘When we meet the others, what do you think they’ll be like?’ It wasn’t a question that needed asking, but she didn’t want to ask if he was okay when he wasn’t. He’d lied before, after all. To spare her? Because he knew she wouldn’t have stood for him to come otherwise? She didn’t know which it was.

‘Hm,’ Momota said. ‘Well, if they were chosen to come into the future, they must be pretty special.’

‘You think that’s why we were all chosen?’ Harukawa asked. She had trouble thinking of her own talent as anything special; she’d become good at killing because she’d had to. There was nothing special about that.

‘Of course!’ Momota said. ‘It’s not just me, you know. You’re pretty remarkable too, Harumaki.’

It made her uncomfortable, being flattered. ‘We don’t need an assassin to rebuild society,’ she said.

‘You don’t know that,’ Momota said. ‘Besides, that’s not the only thing about you.’ He tilted his head back, as if he grew tired again. ‘If we have kids, y’know, then we’ll need the Ultimate Child Caregiver.’

‘That was a lie,’ Harukawa said, feeling embarrassed.

‘But you said it yourself, kids like you. It’s cos they know you’re a reliable person, I reckon. Don’t you think so?’

She didn’t know what to say to that.

He sighed. In a quieter voice, he said, ‘Man, I would’ve liked to have seen that – Harumaki with kids. It’s gotta be adorable.’

‘Shut up,’ Harukawa said, ‘do you want me to kill you?’

The words were out before she could consider them; but Momota only laughed, and she could hear his voice was worn.

‘I wanna keep living,’ Momota said. ‘But if I don’t … you have to keep going, okay? You gotta see the new world for me.’

She wanted to protest.

‘Promise me, okay?’

‘Okay.’ Her throat was dry. ‘I promise.’

‘Good. Hey, Harumaki, you don’t mind if I lean on you for a bit?’

‘What?’

Momota didn’t offer an explanation, but he moved closer, and rested his weight against her with a sigh.

Harukawa was mortified for all of five seconds. But she could hear how rough his breathing was, and when she laid a hand on his forehead, he was feverish.

‘You’d be better to lie down,’ she said.

‘Nah,’ he said. ‘I feel like, if I went to sleep now … I’d miss out on something good.’

She couldn’t argue against that. ‘Momota?’

He didn’t respond. But the sound of his breathing reassured her, for a while. Until even that stopped.

***

In the morning, they buried him. Harukawa helped dig the grave, and they found stones to leave as a marker. Harukawa took off her brooch and left it amongst them.

At some point, she’d gone numb. She couldn’t even feel angry at him for leaving her, for dying in a place like this. However carefully Shingetsu marked their maps, she might never find it again.

And even if she did, he wouldn’t be here.

Gonta cried. She was vaguely aware of his grief as something that ought to matter but didn’t. Komaru cried, and she’d hardly even known Momota. Harukawa had hardly even known Momota. Whatever past they’d had together, they’d forgotten; whatever future they might have had was gone too.

If Harukawa cried, she was still too stunned to feel it.

They buried Momota in the morning, and in the afternoon they moved on.

***

The first time Saihara went outside the dome was to send Shirogane away. It was a shock, to see an overcast sky again. It was drizzling, and if you looked out into the distance, the hills disappeared into grey. That was the entire landscape that stretched out in front of them: green turned to grey.

‘Are you sure you don’t just want to execute me?’ Shirogane said. She spoke in a light voice, but her eyes were hard, staring out into the mist.

‘We’re sure,’ Saihara said. He could never forgive her, of course. But it seemed important not to give her what she wanted; not to do anything that couldn’t be taken back.

He remembered Akamatsu, believing she’d killed Amami. He remembered how brave she’d been. She’d been willing to kill the mastermind to save them all. But killing Shirogane now wouldn’t save anyone. Not even Shirogane herself.

Yumeno undid her handcuffs, and Shirogane picked up the bag they’d prepared for her. There was a supply of food, a blanket – things to at least give her a chance of survival. Iruma and Oma had argued against it, but Saihara didn’t want to send her outside to die. He wanted her to regret what she’d done. To repent for it.

Shirogane shouldered the backpack and, without another word, she started to walk. Without turning or facing them or cursing them. She just walked away.

Saihara felt like he was on the edge of a cliff. But he wouldn’t call her back. He wouldn’t forgive her. He held to Akamatsu’s memory, and he watched Shirogane go.

They all watched her go.


	8. Chapter 8

She would keep going. Harukawa repeated that to herself, as the days passed and they all grew a little wearier.

Gonta pushed aside his qualms and brought them back one of the giant beetles to eat. The flesh was sweeter than she’d expected. And as Gonta thanked the beetle’s spirit for the meal, she felt for the first time how insignificant they were to this world. How indifferent it was to them.

This world didn’t care whether they lived or died. It didn’t care whether they mourned.

She had to keep going. They had to find the others and bring them back. And then Harukawa had to stand in front of Saihara and tell him Momota was gone; that he was never coming back. She could fall apart then, if she could last that long.

She’d never expected to feel this way again. She’d thought she’d lost too much already, and learned to check her attachments.

Stupid Momota. She wasn’t grateful to him. She wasn’t.

The days stretched on, and by the time they arrived at the coast the seasons had begun to change, the trees putting on their autumn colours.

Only a little further, then. Only a little further to go.

***

They hadn’t even been following the coastline for a day when Gonta let out a yell.

Fukawa groaned, expecting something trivial. But Gonta turned to face them, walking backwards along the sand, and said, ‘Campsite ahead!’

They all picked up the pace.

‘You must have good eyesight,’ Komaru told Gonta. She could make out that there was something up ahead, but she couldn’t have been sure what it was. But soon the campsite came into focus: tiny figures gathered at the edge of the river mouth. Only a few at first, but then more of them joined together.

Komaru had been waiting a long time for this. She’d never met them – the class who had been the Remnants of Despair. She only knew what her brother had told her – that they’d aided the Future Foundation, in the end, and taken the blame for the betrayal that could have brought them down.

As they began to resolve faces, Fukawa grabbed for Komaru’s wrist.

‘What –?’

‘It’s him.’ She spoke in a low voice, so the others wouldn’t hear.

It took Komaru a moment longer to make him out. ‘Servant-san?’ she said out loud, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

‘Did Naegi just think he could send forward anyone who ever bothered us?’ Fukawa grumbled. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t bring Enoshima back from the dead ...’

‘But if Servant-san is here,’ Komaru said, ‘if he was one of the Remnants, then that means he’s reformed, right?’ She said it as much to comfort herself as anything. She looked back at Shingetsu, who looked as disturbed as she felt.

‘You didn’t know, right?’ he said.

Komaru shook her head. ‘It’s like we’re being haunted, isn’t it?’ She wanted to make it into a joke.

Fukawa let go of her wrist, and held her hand instead. Komaru was grateful. Servant had scared her, back in Towa City. She’d been something in his head that she wasn’t in reality. And he’d let the Warriors do what they did …

When the group was all together, there were sixteen of them. They looked as worn and torn as Komaru must, but they’d all made it. It was a bittersweet relief.

‘At last,’ someone said. And the number of people was suddenly overwhelming. And it was, ‘we thought you’d never come’ and ‘so which of you is Naegi’s sister’ and ‘let them sit down, they must be exhausted’.

Unwillingly, Komaru caught Servant’s eye. He smiled at her. Said, ‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it?’

‘You knew I’d be here?’ Komaru said. He didn’t seem surprised to see her. But of course he knew she was Makoto’s little sister; he’d known what to expect.

‘Of course the former heroine would be sent forward in time.’ He looked at Shingetsu. ‘Shingetsu-kun is a surprise, though.’

‘You know them already?’ One of the strangers elbowed Servant in a friendly fashion. ‘You coulda said.’

‘They probably wish they’d forgotten me,’ Servant said. ‘Shingetsu-kun, you’ve grown, haven’t you?’

‘Of course I’ve grown,’ Shingetsu said, with a flush.

‘I don’t believe I know the others though,’ Servant said, looking at Harukawa and Gonta.

‘Well, we all need to catch up,’ said another young man. He smiled at Komaru, open and welcoming. ‘I’m Hinata Hajime. We’ve been waiting for you.’

Once the introductions started, they took a while. Komaru wasn’t sure she would remember all the names, the flurry of new faces. Togami she would remember, on account of the fuss Fukawa had kicked up – how he had no right to use that name. This Togami was gentler with her than the other would have been, but then, he didn’t know her yet.

Servant’s name was Komaeda Nagito. She would remember that; it felt like a small kind of power, to have his name.

The group had been woken at the facility on Jabberwock Island, from whence they’d sailed back to the mainland. They’d made camp nearly a month ago, and had been waiting since then. It was a short story, easily told; Komaru was braced for tragedy the whole time.

‘Things didn’t go so well for the younger class,’ she said, looking at Harukawa. ‘Maybe we could tell you later.’

Harukawa didn’t seem to register Komaru’s words; she stood apart from the others, looking lost. She was still only a girl, Komaru thought, for all she came across grown up. Gonta might have been odd, but he slotted in with the larger group easily. Soon he had organised to go on a hunting trip with Owari and Nidai.

‘We’ll bring back feast to celebrate,’ Gonta told Komaru. He glanced shyly at Harukawa. ‘Maybe cheer up Harukawa-san.’

‘That would be nice,’ Komaru said, and waved him goodbye.

It was a pleasant spot the group had found, there by the sea. One of the girls, Koizumi, invited Komaru to go gather seafood, and that was satisfying. Komaru took her shoes off to walk in the sand, looking for tell-tale holes. Fukawa watched nervously from higher up on the beach, until Komaru brought her physically down to the water. And Koizumi pointed out seaweeds that were good to eat, and Saionji dropped a sandworm down the back of Komaru’s top, so that she shrieked, and pulled off her top then and there to get it out.

It was nice, to muck around. To know they could rest at the end of the day, and there would be food to eat, and that their journey had an end.

Hanamura took charge of the cooking, determined to impress. Komaru thought it would have been delicious anyway.

‘I just want to stay here forever,’ she said to Fukawa afterwards, lying back on a sand dune with no regard for where the sand might end up.

‘I think you’d get over it quickly,’ Fukawa said. ‘And the nights are getting colder, so –’

‘Aw, Toko-chan,’ Komaru said, rolling over to grab her around the waist, ‘but I have you to keep me warm.’

‘Shut up,’ Fukawa said. ‘You’re embarrassing.’

Komaru didn’t care what Fukawa said. She was happy. She could ignore how unsettling it was to arrive and find Servant there. Everything that had happened to her in Towa City … it was a long time ago. Unimaginably long ago.

She giggled, as Fukawa tried to shake her off.

The sun was still up, and it was still warm. ‘Let’s go for a swim,’ she said.

‘I’m okay,’ Fukawa said. But Komaru pulled off her clothing, and ran into the water in her underwear. 

‘You’re going to catch a cold,’ Fukawa called out.

‘It’s not that bad,’ Komaru said. She scrunched her eyes up, then dashed herself under the water, popping up again with her hair plastered to her head. She leant back and kicked her feet in the air. ‘You should try it too, Toko-chan. Harukawa-san.’ She waved at the other girl, sitting alone.

‘I’m alright,’ Harukawa said. She was thinking of Momota. How despite all his stupid talk about the sea, and dolphins, he couldn’t even make it long enough to see it himself.

She thought, if Momota were here, he’d be in the water, and he’d be the one calling to her. And if it were him …

‘What about Shingetsu-kun,’ Komaru said. She lay in the shallows, on her belly like an alligator. ‘You’ll come in, won’t you, Shingetsu-kun?’

‘What, right now?’

‘Yes, right now.’

If Harukawa were alone. If Momota were here. Shingetsu caved to Komaru, and Harukawa wanted to join them. Maybe it was only because she’d talked about it with Momota that she resisted.

She crouched down, running her fingers over the sand, and looked out toward the ocean.

It was beautiful – orange-tinted in the sunset, stretching out so far that she could see the curve of the earth in the horizon. It was beautiful and it would outlive them all. If humanity did die out, and the dolphins took over, the sea would still be there. If the dolphins died out and dinosaurs rose again, the sea would still never end.

Harukawa slipped off her shoes. She hesitated, taking her clothes off – Komaru had gone in in her underwear, so it had to be okay – but no-one was paying attention anyway.

Momota would have told her to do it. Momota would have dragged her in himself.

Harukawa set her teeth on undressing, and she walked into the water, far enough that she could dive down into it. The water was comfortably cool, and she stayed under as long as she could – long enough that anyone watching her would worry she’d drowned.

No-one was watching her, and she wouldn’t drown. The water cushioned her, and she wondered if she could swim out far enough to find to find dolphins. If there were still dolphins in the world.

She rose for air. Looked back at the hills, the sun sinking down to the horizon.

If she cried for Momota here, no-one would know. The sea would be no more salty.

There was something of a relief in that.

***

Drying out on the beach, Komaru asked Shingetsu, ‘Do you think we’re really the last people on earth?’

He seemed surprised by the question, but frowned as if he were taking it seriously. ‘I don’t think we can only be the only country to have come up with a plan like this,’ he said. ‘There must be others out there.’

‘I hope so,’ Komaru said. She shifted position, brushing the sand off her legs. She noticed Shingetsu’s eyes follow the motions of her hand, and she remembered what Fukawa had said to her back at the school. About Shingetsu being a teenage boy.

She blushed.

Suddenly there was a shadow over her, and when she looked up, Komaeda was dropping a towel on her head.

‘You could try and be a little bit more modest, Komaru-san,’ he said. And wandered off.

She took the towel in both hands, face completely red. ‘It’s just underwear!’ she said. ‘Geez. That guy’ She used the towel to dry off her hair.

Shingetsu didn’t say anything. He was blushing too.

While Komaru blew off Komaeda’s words, Fukawa was not so blase. She went after him while Komaru was dressing.

‘I s-saw you speak to Komaru,’ she said.

‘Oh?’ Komaeda blinked at her, playing innocent.

‘If you try anything,’ Fukawa said, her shoulders tense, ‘I’ll end you.’

It took a moment for him to react. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘I guess you really did have a change of heart. Well done, Fukawa-san.’

‘Are you listening?’

‘Yes, you were threatening to kill me. Or was that the other one who was threatening to kill me?’

‘It doesn’t matter which,’ she said, flustered by his inability to respond properly.

‘Maybe not,’ Komaeda said. ‘It’s kind of touching though, wouldn’t you say? But you don’t need to worry; Naegi must’ve told you we’re all reformed.’

The group certainly seemed harmless, camping out at the beach, with their welcoming smiles and impromptu feasts.

‘Naegi likes to see the best in people,’ Fukawa said.

Komaeda laughed. ‘As expected of the Ultimate Hope! But seriously, Fukawa-san, you don’t have to worry. I want to see what happens next.’

‘What happens next?’

‘Sure.’ He lifted his hands in the air. ‘It’s man versus wild, hope versus despair, only this time with the fate of the human race at stake. What could be better, or more inspiring? It’s a shame such an ordinary heroine had to be brought along, but –’

‘Don’t call her that,’ Fukawa said.

‘Huh?’

‘In fact, don’t talk about her at all. You don’t deserve to talk about her –’

‘Toko-chan, I think he gets the idea.’ Komaru had come up behind Fukawa, and she leaned over her shoulder. She wore an easy expression on her face, as if it didn’t bother her for Komaeda to imply she wasn’t worthy of being here. The creep had some cheek.

‘Sure, from now on, I’ll only call her Komaru-san,’ Komaeda said. He smiled at her. ‘Right, Komaru-san?’

‘When you put it like that, it sounds like a downgrade …’

‘Komaru!’

‘Okay,’ Komaru said. ‘It’s okay.’

Fukawa looked down at Komaeda again, at his expression of utter innocence.

She made a throat-cutting gesture and stalked off, knowing Komaru would follow her. 

Komaru made some loud apologies, and then ran to catch up.

‘Toko-chan, what was that about?’ she said. Fukawa kept walking, over the sand dune and away from everyone. ‘We knew they’d done bad things when we agreed to come, so why is it any different from Shingetsu-kun and the others?’

‘You know why it’s different,’ Fukawa said. She worried at her nails. ‘We know those kids. We don’t know if _he’s_ really reformed.’

‘Isn’t it better to give him the benefit of the doubt?’

Fukawa gave her a flat look.

‘I mean, I was freaked out too, y’know. But we all have to try and get along. Else what will Harukawa-san and the others think?’

‘Thanks to that stowaway brat, Harukawa-san and the others were trying to _kill_ each other,’ Fukawa said. ‘I’m sure they’ll understand.’

‘Toko-chan.’ Komaru made her name an admonishment.

‘Fine,’ Fukawa said. ‘I just didn’t want him to think he could try anything.’ She was a little embarrassed by Komaru’s goodwill.

‘I’m sure he won’t,’ Komaru said firmly. ‘Can we go back to the party now, Toko-chan?’

‘I don’t know why you have to be so chipper about it all,’ Fukawa muttered.

‘You only say that,’ Komaru said, and took her arm, facing her in the other direction.

‘Fine,’ Fukawa said. ‘We can go back. But don’t expect me to enjoy it.’

‘I never do.’

***

Shingetsu had been relieved to see Fukawa grilling Komaeda. He would have liked to be so protective, but seeing Komaeda had him turned all upside down. Like Monaka, Komaeda was a reminder of things Shingetsu would rather forget.

They’d never known what his name was, then. They hadn’t needed to know, to order him around.

So Shingetsu was annoyed when they left the next morning and Komaeda fell into step beside him.

‘So you, the heroine … are the whole gang here, I wonder?’

Shingetsu thought about ignoring him, but Komaeda went on.

‘I wouldn’t have thought Naegi would have picked you guys to come forward. Although he did pick us … I guess that’s what true hope is, isn’t it? Believing in the worst of people.’

‘It was Naegi-san’s idea,’ Shingetsu said. ‘Komaru-san, I mean. She spoke for us.’

‘Wow,’ Komaeda said, ‘you guys really lucked out when you kidnapped her, didn’t you?’

Shingetsu glanced up at him; he couldn’t tell if Komaeda meant to be mocking or not.

‘Say, how old are you now, Shingetsu-kun?’

Shingetsu looked away again. ‘Nineteen,’ he said.

‘Almost old enough to drink, then,’ Komaeda said. ‘Not quite an adult yet, are you?’

‘I guess not,’ Shingetsu said. But he’d felt like an adult for a long time now. Maybe since he’d decided to help in Towa City, to make up for what they’d done.

‘Still. I wonder how old she must’ve been, back then …’

Shingetsu remembered. Komaru had worn her high school uniform, even though she’d never had the opportunity to go to high school. She’d never been given that opportunity.

He knew the point Komaeda was trying to make. Shingetsu was older than she’d been then. He was one of the demons now too. All of them were.

‘After what happened …’ Shingetsu said, unsure, ‘Monaka-chan went with you, right?’

‘Huh? Oh, for a while. She got bored pretty quick. Someone as useless as me, what do you expect?’

‘She’s here too,’ Shingetsu said. ‘She wasn’t meant to be. She stowed away.’

‘Sounds like Monaka-chan.’

Shingetsu didn’t know why he wanted to tell Komaeda this. ‘If you stayed with her, couldn’t you have …’ No, Monaka didn’t want to change. She didn’t want to grow up. He tried again. ‘When Monaka-chan came here, it wasn’t with us; she snuck in with those guys.’ He indicated Harukawa, who walked ahead of them, alone. ‘She tried to recreate the killing game. With them.’

‘Is that right?’

‘By the time we got there, seven of them were dead.’

Komaeda wore a curious expression. ‘You think I could’ve done something to stop that? Someone like me?’

Shingetsu didn’t answer, and Komaeda gave a little laugh.

‘We were Despair too, you know. When Naegi first tried to help us, you know what? Someone tried the exact same thing.’

‘They did?’

Komaeda gestured behind them. ‘Can I say “Hinata”, I wonder?’

Hinata was chatting to Souda, both of them smiling. Shingetsu tried to imagine him as Despair, and failed. ‘ _He_ did?’

‘You wouldn’t think it, would you? But Shingetsu-kun –’ Komaeda dropped his voice – ‘don’t think I didn’t play along. If Monaka-chan’s like that now …’ He shrugged. ‘Well. What can you expect?’

Shingetsu felt cold suddenly, though the sun kept shining. ‘Try telling that to Harukawa-san,’ he said. He shrugged his bag up higher.

Komaru was further ahead, deep in conversation with Sonia and Tanaka. He wished he could go join them, but Komaru looked like she was enjoying herself. He didn’t want to interrupt that.

‘What you were saying about Hinata-kun …’ he started.

‘Why don’t you ask him?’ Komaeda turned around and waved to catch Hinata’s eye. A look went over Hinata’s face, like he didn’t want to talk to Komaeda either, but he excused himself and walked ahead.

‘What?’ Hinata asked.

‘I was just telling Shingetsu-kun about our killing game,’ Komaeda said, ‘and I wondered, how do I explain your role?’

Hinata lost his apparent good humour. ‘Did you have to?’

‘It’s important context, don’t you think?’

Hinata pursed his lips, and gave Shingetsu an appraising look.

‘He brought it up first,’ Shingetsu said.

‘Right,’ Komaeda said, ‘the thing Komaru-san didn’t want to talk about yesterday.’

Hinata looked at him sharply. ‘What would you know about that, Komaeda?’

‘Oh, nothing important. Say, did you ever go to Towa City, Hinata-kun?’

Hinata frowned. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘It seems someone tried to recreate the killing game.’

‘Did they?’ The words were solid, hardly even a question.

‘She must’ve stowed away,’ Shingetsu said. ‘It wasn’t … no-one planned this.’

‘But they stopped it?’

Shingetsu hesitated. ‘Not soon enough,’ he said.

He knew Komaru hadn’t wanted to explain the situation right away, but he thought the others should know what they were getting into. The situation they would arrive in.

‘Komaeda-san said that you …’ Shingetsu couldn’t say it.

‘Right,’ Hinata said. ‘How can I explain?’ He wore a distant expression. ‘It was when we were Despair. Naegi’s brother had come up with a plan so that we could … go back to how we used to be, before. It was like a VR game. They put our memories back to before any of it started.’

Komaeda smiled, like there was something funny to remember.

‘But even though we agreed to this … I had a plan to try and bring back Enoshima Junko.’

‘You did?’

Hinata’s expression turned wry. ‘We had a computer program, an AI version of Enoshima.’ He paused. ‘From when I was in Towa City. I put it into the VR world Naegi came up with, so instead of … whatever the VR world was meant to be, we were made to kill each other instead.’

Shingetsu’s heart sped up. ‘But no-one really died, right?’

‘We were able to wake them up again, after we defeated Enoshima and escaped. But it wasn’t a sure thing. We didn’t even know if they could be woken up, at first.’

‘So who died?’ Shingetsu asked, morbidly curious.

‘Hinata-kun survived right to the end, didn’t you, Hinata-kun? Even though he was the one that started it.’

‘Only five of us survived. Me, Souda, Sonia, Owari and Kuzuryu. Everyone else killed or was killed.’ His eyes lingered on Komaeda. ‘Or both.’

Komaeda smiled back at him. ‘I achieved what I meant to, didn’t I?’

‘It was because of you that Nanami died,’ Hinata said, grit in his voice. ‘And we couldn’t bring _her_ back.’ His hefted his backpack higher on his shoulders. ‘So that’s what happened.’ He looked ahead, to the others. ‘At least we only did it to ourselves.’

‘Only because you failed,’ Komaeda pointed out. ‘If you’d succeeded …’

‘Would that have brought her back?’ Shingetsu asked.

Hinata hesitated. ‘We would have become Enoshima,’ he said.

Shingetsu thought about that. ‘That’s what Monaka-chan wanted,’ he said. ‘I guess she never stopped wanting it.’

‘Monaka?’

‘Our friend,’ Shingetsu said. ‘Former friend. Back in Towa City.’

He wasn’t sure about Komaeda, but Hinata didn’t seem like someone who would try and bring Enoshima back, or start a killing game to do so. Not any more. Maybe there was hope for Monaka, then.

Except Monaka hadn’t done it to them. Those other kids … they’d never been Despair, or worshipped Enoshima. They had no reason to understand or forgive. It wasn’t even like he thought it _should_ be forgiven.

He’d never understood Monaka, not then, not now. But he’d used to believe in her. And he still wanted to see her saved.

***

In the evenings, they stopped early so that they could forage and hunt. It usually took a while for people to trickle back in. But one night, Hinata and Komaeda didn’t come back.

It had surprised Komaru that they were friendly, because Hinata seemed so sensible, but she supposed you could never tell. And certainly Komaeda managed to bring back the most interesting foods.

When she asked after them, all she got was, ‘oh, Komaeda’s probably got stuck somewhere. They’ll be back soon.’ But as the sun began to sink towards the hills and Hanamura called everyone for dinner, the others began to grow more concerned.

‘They headed north, right?’ Souda said, looking out into the trees. He chewed on his lip. ‘Do you think we should send out a search party?’

‘It’s getting dark,’ Kuzuryu said. ‘Better to wait.’

‘It won’t do any good if we get lost searching for them,’ Sonia agreed. ‘I’m sure they’ll find some place safe to wait out the night. We can search in the morning.’

That was the plan, but it sat uneasily with Komaru. She was thinking of how the forests weren’t friendly to them, to humans; thinking of how small they were, set against a whole wide planet.

She thought of Momota dying in the night, and how quiet Harukawa had become. How powerless she was herself, to do anything or help anyone.

At some point that night she woke Fukawa with her restlessness. Or maybe Fukawa was restless herself.

‘You should stop worrying about them,’ Fukawa said.

Komaru sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. ‘It could’ve been any of us,’ she said. They both kept their voices quiet.

‘Yeah, so be glad it was them and not us,’ Fukawa said.

‘I can’t do that,’ Komaru said. Maybe Komaeda scared her, but Hinata hadn’t done anything wrong. She squeezed her eyes shut. Even at night, the world wasn’t quiet. The wind in the trees; the sound of frogs down by the river; the sound of the water … ‘We need everyone, you know? My brother trusted us to do this.’

‘It was always going to be a last resort,’ Fukawa said. ‘Even he knew that.’

She meant Komaru should accept it too. But Komaru was scared she would watch it all slip through her fingers: their lives, her sense of hope, the memory of her brother’s love. It would all become meaningless.

Komaru couldn’t believe it was meaningless. She had to believe they’d all be okay.

***

The next afternoon, the search parties returned empty-handed.

‘I thought for sure someone find them,’ Gonta said. He folded his arms and looked troubled.

Komaru and Fukawa exchanged a glance.

‘We can try again tomorrow,’ Komaru said.

‘I don’t like it,’ Owari said. ‘What if they’re out there hurt?’

‘If we keep searching now,’ Sonia said, ‘we’ll just get ourselves into trouble too. It’s best to wait.’

‘What if we still can’t find them?’ Harukawa asked. She was usually so quiet that her voice stood out. ‘We might have to move on without them.’

‘Harukawa-san, that’s a bit …’ Komaru trailed off.

‘Ah, it’ll be fine,’ Souda said. ‘It’s those two. They’ll probably show up in a couple of months with some whacked out story about getting kidnapped by mountain men.’

‘... really,’ Komaru said.

‘Souda-kun is right. We should have faith in them. Even if we don’t find them, Hinata-kun will be able to find the way.’ Sonia smiled, and it was impossible to tell if there was anything forced in it.

The next day, they went on without them.


	9. Chapter 9

It took days for Hinata to dig them out of the cave in. Komaeda wasn’t much help, having been injured in the fall, so Hinata had to get them out alone.

Days, it took, with Komaeda’s increasing pessimism wearying at him. And then once they did get back to the campsite, the others were gone.

‘They could have left something for us,’ Komaeda said. There was nothing but the long-dead remnants of a fire.

‘A tent would be good,’ Hinata said. The day was warm but overcast, and the air felt heavy. He didn’t fancy their luck finding shelter if it did rain.

‘A tent. An apology for leaving us behind …’

‘I’m sure they tried their best. No-one could’ve expected you to fall into a cave.’

‘Sure,’ Komaeda said, ‘we’ll be welcomed back with open arms, right?’ He sat down, taking the weight off his injured leg. ‘Someone like you can think that. They’ll always be glad to see _you_.’

Hinata wasn’t sure what to say to that. He’d heard about Fukawa’s fight with Komaeda; seen Shingetsu’s discomfort. He couldn’t say that there weren’t people who might wish that Komaeda wouldn’t come back at all. He’d felt the same way himself, sometimes. But still.

‘If we didn’t want you around,’ he said, ‘we could’ve left you in that coma. Isn’t that enough proof for you?’

‘You almost didn’t though, right, Hinata-kun?’

‘What?’

‘You left me till last, didn’t you?’

Hinata scowled. ‘Maybe your head was just the hardest to get through.’

Komaeda didn’t answer.

‘Look,’ Hinata said, ‘none of us really deserve to be here, right? Even if the others didn’t chose it, they still took part. So no-one’s judging.’

‘I think Fukawa was judging rather a lot,’ Komaeda said. ‘She’s probably right, too. I mean, you know what I was like, don’t you?’ He met Hinata’s eyes with a sort of wild expression. ‘Even if I pretend that I’m recovered … my luck won’t let me be. Look at what’s happened already.’

‘We’re fine,’ Hinata said. ‘Your foot will get better. We’ll make it back to the others.’

‘Right,’ Komaeda said. ‘Because I’m with you, you mean?’

‘ _Because_ I looked at the map,’ Hinata said. He sat down opposite Komaeda. They were both tired. They were both scared of staying lost, and maybe Komaeda did have more to be scared of than Hinata did. And he was in pain; Hinata knew that. He didn’t say any of it. ‘You could have studied the map too, you know.’

‘Would it have made me as self-righteous as you, I wonder?’

Hinata let that one slide. They still had a long journey ahead of them.

***

‘Oi, Saihara. We got company.’

‘Company?’ Saihara scrambled to his feet. ‘You mean –’

Iruma gave a sharp nod. ‘Looks like Naegi found that other group.’ She laughed. ‘Let’s hope they’re not all losers like you lot!’

Saihara hurried after her. If Komaru was back, that meant Momota and Harukawa were too. In the weeks since they’d left, Saihara had already come to miss them desperately.

The class met together behind the school. The tunnel was still the only way in and out the dome – Iruma had dismantled the traps, but they should really take the whole structure down. Even if they had to do it piece by piece, Saihara thought it would be worth it to see the real sky.

Harukawa was one of the first of the newcomers to trickle in.

‘Harukawa-san!’ He couldn’t help his enthusiasm, even if Harukawa didn’t echo it. ‘It’s good to see you again.’

She nodded. Her eyes flickered around the group, something guarded in her expression. ‘You’re not all here?’

‘That’s … ah, there’s a lot to tell you.’

‘We got rid of Shirogane-chan,’ Oma said, ignoring Saihara’s reticence.

All of a sudden, there were a whole lot of people in the garden, and Oma ran off to greet Gonta. Saihara searched the crowd over Harukawa’s shoulder.

‘There’s something I have to tell you too,’ Harukawa said.

‘What is it?’ he said distractedly. Then, taking in the group that had assembled, ‘Where’s Momota-kun?’ 

It took her a moment to answer. ‘Momota’s not coming back,’ she said.

‘What do you mean?’ he said. ‘Has he run off somewhere?’ But he already knew, from her posture and her downcast eyes, what the answer was.

‘I mean he’s dead.’

Saihara felt the world fracture.

No-one else stopped, just him. Gonta started to explain how Momota come down sick; they didn’t know how.

Saihara knew how. He met Harukawa’s eyes. ‘He was already sick,’ Saihara said, ‘wasn’t he?’

Harukawa nodded.

‘But if he were sick,’ Kiibo said, ‘shouldn’t he have stayed here? Why would he go off like that?’

‘Why shouldn’t he?’ Harukawa said sharply. ‘Would it have been better for him to die here instead? At least he got to see the world before he –’ She stopped, looking a little surprised at her own emotion.

‘He didn’t want to die trapped here,’ Saihara said.

Harukawa nodded.

Saihara got it. He understood it with his mind: Momota had wanted to go on his own terms, and he hadn’t wanted the others to worry. That was why he hadn’t said anything. Even so, Saihara couldn’t help the pain in his heart. He should have gone with him. Even if it had meant things going worse here, he should have been there for Momota.

‘What about Shirogane?’ Harukawa asked.

Shirogane’s betrayal seemed meaningless, in the face of Momota’s death.

‘Turns out Shirogane and that Monaka girl were working together,’ Iruma said, so Saihara didn’t have to. When she said Monaka’s name, it got the attention of Komaru and the others too. ‘Shirogane wasn’t happy Monaka turned herself in, so.’

Saihara saw Shingetsu flinch. ‘Monaka’s dead?’ he said. Komaru moved to touch his arm, briefly.

‘Yup. We hardly even got to interrogate her.’ Oma sighed.

‘Where’s Shirogane-san now?’ Komaru asked.

‘Out there.’ Iruma gestured with her thumb.

‘Shirogane-san wanted us to kill each other?’ Gonta said.

‘Turns out, behind that plain face, she was just your typical whack-job,’ Iruma said.

‘We didn’t want any more deaths,’ Kiibo said. ‘That’s why we decided exile was the best option.’

‘Course, she’ll probably just die out there anyway,’ Iruma said. Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence, as if she’d just remembered that Momota _did_ die out there.

It seemed so unfair. They were reunited again, and all the news they had to tell each other was death. Even though the killing game was meant to be over.

He wondered if the newcomers knew what they were in for.

***

‘Are you okay?’ Komaru touched Shingetsu’s arm again; he looked shaken.

Komaru felt shaken herself. She could hardly wrap her mind around it. Monaka was dead. After all this time, everything that had happened, she was really dead.

‘We buried her in the lower garden,’ Kotoko said. ‘Do you want to see?’

Komaru looked at Shingetsu, and he nodded.

They walked down to the garden together: Komaru and Fukawa and the four Warriors of Hope. Komaru listened to Kotoko teasing Fukawa about getting fat – Monaka’s death was already old news to her.

Kotoko led them down to the burial plot – not just Monaka’s grave, but the graves of everyone who had died. Monaka’s grave was set apart a little, as if it had been placed reluctantly.

‘We couldn’t find any incense,’ Daimon said. ‘But there’s flowers.’

Shingetsu looked at Monaka’s grave, and he looked across at the seven others. ‘Does she really deserve it?’ he asked.

‘It wasn’t just her fault,’ Kotoko said firmly. ‘Didn’t you hear?’ And she dragged Shingetsu through the motions of tending the grave, while Komaru and Fukawa waited.

Fukawa had an odd expression on her face. Komaru reached out to take her hand, as much for her own comfort as Fukawa’s.

Komaru didn’t know how she should feel. If she should be relieved or regretful; if she should be sad or glad. If it were okay to feel only this slight wistfulness, because she’d wanted Monaka to be _better_. But Monaka never had been.

‘She never changed at all,’ Komaru said.

‘Not everyone does,’ Fukawa said.

Shingetsu stood up again. The grave was tidy and neat; Monaka’s spirit would have nothing to complain about. He glanced nervously at Komaru, as if for approval. She wanted to take his hand too.

Shingetsu and the others _had_ changed. All Komaru’s hope hadn’t been wasted. And they were still here together, in this new world.

Monaka had never been invited in the first place.

***

That evening, Harukawa waited for Saihara in the pavilion. When he arrived, he didn’t say anything right away. Just sat beside her. She wondered if he was remembering too.

‘I really thought we’d get to see each other again,’ he said at last. ‘We never got to be together without _that_ hanging over our heads. If I’d known …’

‘Momota’s the one who decided not to tell us,’ Harukawa said. She was thinking how stupid it was, that she should have got so attached to him in such a short space of time. All the time they’d had.

‘I should’ve known though,’ Saihara said. ‘Saying he was scared of ghosts … what kind of a story was that?’

Harukawa stared out across the courtyard. ‘Do you think you’d feel any better now if he had said something?’ Dead was dead. They couldn’t have prevented it, not if Momota was already sick.

‘You’re probably right,’ Saihara said. ‘Still.’

‘He was glad to see what was outside,’ Harukawa said, more insistent. ‘So don’t feel bad for him.’

He turned toward her, and she went on.

‘He was really excited,’ she said. ‘Like a kid.’ Enraptured by each glimpse of an unknown bird, every new and unfamiliar flower. And wanting to share them with her.

‘Then … that’s good,’ Saihara said. ‘Yeah. He must’ve been glad.’

They lapsed into silence again. But it was easier than the silence that had weighed upon her, all the journey back.

‘It’s a few days’ walk,’ she said, ‘but if you want, we could go visit the grave.’ They hadn’t passed it on the way back, but Harukawa thought she could find it again. She hoped she could.

‘I’d like that,’ Saihara said. ‘Were you … were you there when he died?’

Harukawa nodded.

‘That’s good then,’ Saihara said. ‘I’m glad he wasn’t alone. When I think of everyone who died … I’m glad he wasn’t alone.’

Harukawa thought of the executions they’d seen. She thought of Chabashira, trapped in a cage, and Amami, escaping one death only to meet another.

Momota at least had had the open air and the night sky and someone beside him.

She was glad it had been her.

***

That night, Komaru and Fukawa got ready for bed together. They’d decided to keep the same room Komaru had been given before.

‘Let’s never walk anywhere again,’ Fukawa said, collapsing onto the bed. ‘Did you hear Kotoko earlier? What a brat.’

‘You are starting to show,’ Komaru said. Fukawa made an irritated noise, blowing her off.

When Komaru came back from her shower, Fukawa had drifted off to sleep. She stirred when Komaru climbed into bed.

‘Sorry,’ Komaru said. ‘Go back to sleep.’ She snuggled into Fukawa’s side, thinking that when Fukawa’s pregnancy was further along, she probably wouldn’t want to share any more. And when she had the baby, what would they do? They couldn’t keep living at the dorms. Would they have to stay at the love hotel instead? The decor seemed somehow even more terrifying if you imagined a baby in amongst it.

Fukawa didn’t go back to sleep. ‘Hey, Komaru,’ she said. ‘You believe me, right? About the baby.’

‘Hmm?’

‘It really is Byakuya-sama’s baby.’

‘Okay.’ Komaru wasn’t sure what Fukawa wanted her to say.

‘I’m not making it up.’

‘I believe you, Toko-chan.’

‘It’s just …’ Her next words came out in a mutter. ‘Even though he wouldn’t sleep with me ...’

That made Komaru pay attention. Fukawa stared at the ceiling, unblinking.

‘I thought when he agreed, it meant ... but he wouldn’t do it.’ Her eyelids fluttered closed. ‘So it’s his baby, but I’m still a virgin. How pathetic is that?’

‘It’s not pathetic, Toko-chan.’ After everything that had happened, Fukawa was worried about that? It wasn’t as if either of them had had time for things like relationships in the old world. There were too many more important things going on.

And Fukawa was one of Komaru’s more important things.

‘I know you like Shingetsu,’ Fukawa said, in an undertone.

‘What? Toko-chan, that’s –’

‘But I’m still making you share a room with me.’ She almost giggled. ‘Because I’m selfish. Selfish _and_ pathetic.’

‘You’re _not_ ,’ Komaru said. ‘And I wanted to share with you. You know I hate sleeping alone.’

‘See? You’re not even denying it any more.’

‘Denying what?’ Komaru said.

‘Komaru. Likes. Shingetsu.’

‘Shut up,’ Komaru said, and hid her face under the covers. It wasn’t a mature response, but this was hardly a mature conversation.

‘At least you have a chance, right?’ The teasing had gone out of Fukawa’s voice. ‘Byakuya-sama’s hundreds of years in the past. Nothing’s ever going to change with us now.’

Komaru poked her head out again. It seemed somehow crueler of Byakuya to let Fukawa carry his child but not to sleep with her than it would have been to refuse her altogether. And Fukawa had gone along with it …

‘It’s alright,’ Komaru said. ‘A baby doesn’t need a father. Cos it’ll have two awesome mums, right?’

‘Don’t say stuff like that,’ Fukawa said.

‘Why not? I’m not going anywhere. You’re the most important person in the world to me, Toko-chan.’

‘Yeah, well, there’s not exactly a lot of competition any more.’

‘Nuh-uh,’ Komaru said. ‘You know that’s not it.’ She reached for Fukawa’s hand under the blankets. Held it in hers.

And Fukawa didn’t argue any more.

***

Shirogane had been in the wild for twenty days and nineteen nights when she spotted them. Two young men, following the remnants of the road that led towards the dome, one of them on crutches.

They made no efforts at stealth, but then, they didn’t know what they had to be afraid of.

They must’ve been split off from the larger group at some point. That was how the one of them had been injured, Shirogane figured. It should make it easier for her.

She followed them at a distance for the rest of the day. She could have spoken to them – it wasn’t as if they’d know who she was, or that she’d been exiled. She could be a helpless girl, lost herself … But that would just be making excuses for the chance to talk to someone. They’d find out what she was in the end – there was only one way to get around _that_.

It would make a good ending, wouldn’t it? If the others waited for their friends, only for them to never show up. It would be appropriately despairing. She could pick the rest of them off slowly, whensoever they ventured out from the dome. No-one would need to know it was her. They’d learn that way what kind of a world they’d woken to – that it wasn’t a world for humans. They’d see that it would have been better to give in, to kill each other and to be killed. The way she’d wanted.

She tracked the men until nighttime, when they settled down to sleep. She’d crafted herself a spear early on in her exile – you needed it for the bush, where there were wild boar and perhaps even bears – but what she’d meant for defense could just as easily be turned to murder.

She could take their food too. She was getting hungry enough.

By the time they were finally sleep, tucked up against one other, she’d begun to doubt herself. Could she kill either of them without the other waking? If she wasn’t fast enough … she had to hope that the other one would at least kill her quickly.

While she prevaricated, the light-haired man got up again. He walked away from the camp, and Shirogane held her breath. The other man didn’t stir.

This was her chance. Her heart felt bright, as she approached the camp. She had to be quick, and be gone before the other man came back.

She could do it.

She stood over the sleeping man, and she pointed her spear at his throat. It was too dark to make out his face.

Her hands trembled, a little. She would have to put all her weight into the spear thrust, to be sure.

But in the moment Shirogane steeled herself, the man’s eyes snapped open, and she gasped as he wrenched the spear away from her, unbalancing her. She fell to the ground heavily. And then she was the one with a spear pointed at her.

She took one breath, and then another. The spear tip stayed pointed at her throat. What was he waiting for?

‘Go on,’ she said. ‘Do it.’ She didn’t know why he was just standing there.

‘That was impressive, Hinata-kun.’ The other man clapped his hands together. She hadn’t heard him come back.

‘What the hell, Komaeda?’

‘Don’t ask me,’ Komaeda said, waving him off. ‘I don’t know her.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ Hinata demanded.

Shirogane looked between the two of them, her eyes flicking back and forward. The tip of the spear was uncomfortably sharp against her skin. Hinata didn’t tremble.

‘Sure sure.’ Komaeda came closer, and crouched down beside her. She couldn’t help but try and shift away from him.

‘Just kill me,’ she said. She didn’t know what they wanted. ‘Please.’

She flinched as Hinata stabbed the spear into the ground beside her.

‘I don’t usually go around killing people,’ he said.

‘I would’ve killed you,’ she said. And she would have. She’d done it before, twice with her own hands. She would have.

‘It’s a bit pointless to kill someone who wants to be killed,’ Komaeda said. ‘Like doing her a favour.’

Hinata turned his head. ‘You’re saying that? You?’

‘Different situation, Hinata-kun.’

She didn’t know what they were talking about.

‘You’re from the school, right?’ Komaeda addressed her now. ‘What’re you doing out here, then?’

‘I –’ Murdered people who should’ve been friends. Wouldn’t buy into their shitty hope. ‘Can I sit up?’

Hinata picked the spear back up. She pulled herself into a sitting position, moving away from Komaeda.

‘I don’t think you want to know what I’m doing out here,’ she said.

‘Maybe not.’ Hinata sat down too, so the three of them formed a triangle. He kept the spear across his lap.

‘Maybe if it’s terrible enough,’ Komaeda said, ‘we’ll change our minds and kill you after all.’ He sounded cheerful.

‘We’re not killing anyone.’

They were bickering, she thought. After what she’d tried ... ‘You’re as bad as they are.’

‘Oh?’ Komaeda said.

‘They were all, _no, we’re not going to kill you_. As if they hadn’t been happy to kill each other before that woman came along. Then it was all, _no, no, we can’t do anything bad like that._ ’ Not like you, they meant. ‘ _We’ll just send you into the wilderness to die on your own._ ’

‘But you’re not dead yet, are you?’ Komaeda seemed far too relaxed, considering she’d just tried to kill his friend.

‘Why did they kick you out?’ Hinata asked.

She may as well tell them. ‘They found out I was the one making them kill each other,’ she said. It still made her a little proud, to say it.

She heard Hinata draw a sharp breath. ‘I thought you said you didn’t know her,’ he said to Komaeda.

‘This isn’t Monaka.’ Komaeda’s voice was flat.

‘It’s not?’

‘See?’ Shirogane said. ‘They didn’t think someone like me could be behind it either.’ She was somehow unsurprised it was the same with these two.

‘So who are you?’ Hinata asked.

‘Shirogane,’ she said. ‘Not that it matters.’

‘Shirogane-san,’ Komaeda said. ‘So if you were the one making them kill each other, what happened to Monaka?’

 _Monaka, Monaka_. The way people went on about her was the only thing worse than the way people went on about their morals. ‘I killed her,’ she said.

‘Is that right?’

‘She shouldn’t have given herself up,’ Shirogane said. ‘Does that make you want to kill me, then?’

Komaeda seemed to consider it. ‘Monaka was a piece of work,’ he said. ‘But still.’

‘I killed her and I killed Amami-kun too,’ Shirogane said. Why wouldn’t they take her seriously? ‘I killed him and framed someone else for it so they’d die as well. Does that make you want to kill me?’

‘We don’t know who you’re talking about,’ Hinata said.

Her hopes deflated.

‘We’re not going to help you die,’ Komaeda said. ‘If you want to die, do it yourself. Someone who can kill should at least have the guts for that.’

Shirogane flinched.

‘You don’t really want to die, do you?’ Hinata said. He said it like he already knew the answer. She hated that.

‘Why wouldn’t I? It’ll happen soon enough anyway. We’re all going to die. Even if we all pretend to get along –’ like the rest of her class were pretending they could get along – ‘it’ll still happen. People will kill each other. Or if they don’t, this world will.’ She threw up her hands. ‘We weren’t meant to be here.’

‘Weren’t we?’ Komaeda asked.

But this was a point Shirogane was sure on. ‘Humanity was meant to die out,’ she said. ‘That’s what should have happened. That’s true despair.’

‘And that’s why you wanted them to kill each other,’ Hinata said.

‘Why not? It was going to happen anyway. I just moved things along.’

‘And that’s why you wanted to kill Hinata-kun too, right?’ Komaeda said. ‘That’s why you followed us.’

She hadn’t realised they’d caught on. That was shameful, somehow; more shameful than her ultimate failure. But she wouldn’t let it phase her.

‘It would teach them not to come out here, wouldn’t it? Can you imagine how they’d feel when they realised? Despair like that … it’s only fitting for the end of the world, right?’

‘How boring,’ Hinata mumbled.

‘What?’

‘It’s boring,’ he said, louder. ‘Everyone’s so predictable. You’re too scared to kill yourself, but you’re also too scared to really try and live. You don’t want to put the effort in.’

‘That’s not it.’

‘Isn’t it? Die if you want to,’ he said. ‘I don’t care. Just leave us out of it.’

Her mouth fell open. She looked at Komaeda.

‘I’m with him,’ he said. ‘As long as you don’t try and hurt Hinata-kun again, I could care less.’

‘What …’ She looked between them both. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Get out of here,’ Hinata said. There was something disgusted in his voice.

‘You’re just going to let me go?’

‘If you can call it that,’ Hinata said. ‘It’s not like there’s anywhere to go.’

She felt trapped, even though they were setting her free. She was going to be alone again. She couldn’t kill them … she hadn’t even surprised them, in the end … and it seemed clear they weren’t going to kill her either. No-one would.

She wished they’d just put her out of her misery already.

She felt a little dizzy when she stood up.

‘If you decide you want to live,’ Hinata said, ‘maybe we’ll help. But you have to want to make the effort.’

She took a deep breath, looking down at him. ‘Are you an idiot?’ she said. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘You weren’t the first one to start a killing game,’ Hinata said.

She didn’t know what he meant.

She didn’t care what he meant.

She stalked off into the forest, leaving them behind. Komaeda said, ‘See you!’ as she left, and she hated him. She hated them both.

She should’ve done better. If she could’ve been more like Enoshima, she would’ve done better.

If Monaka hadn’t betrayed her, they could’ve ruined this new world together. Instead they were the losers, she and Monaka both.

Some things never really changed.


	10. Chapter 10

Iruma had already been tinkering with the Exisals, but with Souda’s arrival, there began a project in earnest. It was a competition: see who could build something to bring down the dome first. It would have been faster if the two of them could work together, but Komaru supposed there was no hurry.

Komaru herself was starting on a garden. A proper garden, that would feed people. Harukawa had promised to bring back some of the plants they’d worked out were edible, when she and Saihara returned from their memorial trip. The supplies that had been included with the ship would only last so long. – although Iruma figured there was some kind of synthesiser involved, or else how had any food survived long enough for them to eat it? Komaru didn’t really understand, but it would be good if they could produce things on order. Soy sauce. Sweets.

‘I still think we should wait for the dome to come down,’ Shingetsu said. ‘Unless you seriously want to water everything by hand, every day.’

He said that, but he was helping her to plant out the seedlings.

‘I don’t mind,’ Komaru said. ‘There’s not a lot of useful stuff I can do, but I can tend a garden.’ She liked digging in the soil, getting it on her hands as she pressed the earth down around the seedlings. She’d never kept a garden before. The books they’d found might not cover the kinds of plants that were around now, but the principles were the same. She hoped.

They didn’t have the real sun on them yet, or the sound of birds. They worked in human silence.

‘There!’ Komaru said. ‘That’s the last one.’ She sat back on her heels, feeling proud of herself. Even though it only accounted to a few rows of seedlings.

‘Uh, Naegi-san?’

‘What?’ Komaru looked in the direction Shingetsu was looking. There was a small procession approaching them – Fukawa and Kotoko and the others, Gonta with a small tree wrapped in his arms, and most unexpected, Komaeda and Hinata.

Those two looked completely bedraggled, but somehow, seeing them felt like the sun coming out.

They hadn’t left them behind to die. They’d made it.

‘What’s all this?’ Komaru asked, rising to her feet. She wiped her hands on her pants.

‘We went to get you a plant,’ Oma said. ‘But we found these two instead.’ He looked at Komaeda and Hinata, a bemused expression on his face. ‘Who are you two again?’

‘I’m glad you made it,’ Komaru said, before Hinata could fall for introducing himself to Oma again. ‘Looks like you had a rough time, huh?’

‘You could say that …’ Hinata said. He shared a glance with Komaeda that she couldn’t interpret.

‘Ah, Gonta not want to interrupt, but where should Gonta put tree?’

‘Oh!’ Komaru looked over the plot of earth she and Shingetsu had been working on. She hadn’t been expecting to put in a sapling of the size Gonta was carrying. She hoped it would be okay being transplanted.

‘It should be the first one we tried here,’ Fukawa said. ‘When we woke up.’

‘It definitely is!’ Kotoko said. ‘Daimon-kun, you’ll dig the hole, right?’

‘Me?’ Daimon looked taken aback a moment, until Oma held out the spade he was carrying with a smile. ‘Alright then, just tell me where!’

When Komaru had finished directing, Komaeda and Hinata had gone.

‘They went to the dining hall,’ Fukawa said, when she saw Komaru looking.

‘Is that right?’ She supposed it made sense … they can’t’ve been eating well, just the two of them, and no supplies. But she’d wanted to ask what had happened. She still felt bad, for having moved on instead of waiting for them. _But it turned out alright_ , she told herself.

‘It was a surprise to see _him_ again,’ Kotoko said.

‘I would’ve hoped he’d forgotten us,’ Jataro said. ‘He probably wishes he had.’

‘Why’s that?’ Oma asked. ‘What’d you do?’

‘Uh …’ Jataro said. ‘Made him do all the work. Drew on his face.’

‘Made him make us milkshakes,’ Kotoko said. ‘But they weren’t very good. He never could remember how I liked things.’

‘Sometimes we chained him up like a dog.’

‘You guys,’ Shingetsu said, horrified at their tactlessness.

‘You did all that?’ Gonta said. He seemed upset by the idea. Even Oma seemed taken aback … or maybe he was impressed.

‘Yeah, you were sure brats,’ Fukawa said. ‘But that guy …’

‘I think he’ll forgive them,’ Komaru said.

‘What?’

‘We all have to get along now, right?’ She gave Fukawa a smile.

‘Hey!’ Daimon said. ‘We’re ready for the tree!’

They planted the tree together then. Gonta lowered it into the ground, and Daimon stamped down the earth around it.

‘How long do you think it’ll take to fruit?’ Kotoko asked. The tree was barely a metre tall at the moment, and Komaru had no idea how long it would take to grow. Maybe they’d have fruit next season. Maybe not for years.

‘We’ll have to wait and see,’ Komaru said.

‘You don’t know?’

‘We don’t even know what kind of tree it is,’ Shingetsu said.

‘If it’s even the kind we thought it was …’ Fukawa muttered.

‘However long it takes,’ Komaru said, ‘we’ll all be here to see it, right? And your baby too, Toko-chan.’ Fukawa gave her a strange look then; Komaru thought it was love. ‘So let’s look forward to that day, okay? And we’ll all enjoy it together.’

She and Fukawa. The former Warriors of Hope. The survivors of the new class of Hope’s Peak, and the survivors of the old. They’d see the future together, and share in its fruits.

Komaru believed that. Her brother had believed it too. That’s why he’d sent them here together. And maybe things had gone wrong at first … but Komaru believed they could still make them go right.

Fukawa’s child … all of their children would grow up in this new world.

They’d make it a world worth living in.


End file.
